Live To Rise
by mily.alice
Summary: *Part 3 of the Josephine Stark series* "The world is changing, Agent Stark. It's time that we change with it."
1. Chapter 1

**Here we are, back at the beginning of a new story. This story picks up a couple of months after the last one ended. Joei is still busy with school, training, and now her charity. This story will take place through the Avengers and a bit afterward.**

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own rights to any Marvel characters.**_

* * *

 **December 19, 2011**

Josephine sang loudly as she lit a sugar cookie scented candle, " _It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go. Take a look at the five and ten..."_

"Somebody's happy," Caitlin commented as she walked into the living room of their Willowdale apartment.

Josephine grinned, "I am."

"May I ask why?" Caitlin crossed her arms over her chest.

"I have a date tonight." Joei answered, walking toward the kitchen for coffee.

"Oh, do tell," said Caitlin, following her excitedly, "What made you say yes? You've been turning down dates for months."

"I know, but I kind of like this guy. He's in two of my classes and we were partnered up for a project at the beginning of the semester. He's nice and he doesn't treat me like I'm Iron Man's daughter, you know? He just treats me like a normal person."

"A normal person that he likes enough to go on a date with," said Caitlin, "What's his name?"

"Alex Quinn. His uncle owns Quinn Worldwide."

"You're going on a date with Ian Quinn's nephew?!"

"You've heard of him?"

"He's only the hottest billionaire alive," Caitlin laughed, "No offense to your dad, of course."

"I'd be more offended if you thought my dad _was_ hot." said Joei with a wave of her hand, "Well, Alex is pretty handsome, too. But that's not the only reason I agreed to a date."

"Of course not."

"It isn't!"

"But you won't pretend it wasn't at least one reason."

"It may have been a contributing factor."

"Ha!"

"Oh, shut up."

"So what time is this big date taking place?" asked Caitlin, serving a cup of coffee for herself.

"He said he'd pick me up at seven and to dress up. I thought I'd wear that red dress with the long sleeves and the peplum."

"With the little black belt and the buttons on the front?"

"That's the one."

Caitlin nodded, "Very chic, very Kate Middleton. Remember to pack everything up before you leave, otherwise you'll get home late and still have to pack everything for tomorrow."

"Yes, Mom." Joei rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of which, Pepper called while you were training with Barton this morning. She said that we are doing ugly Christmas sweaters this year whether your dad likes it or not."

"I'm totally posting that on youtube."

At six fifty, Josephine had established a routine. She would sit on the couch for ten seconds, get up, walk to the mirror near the door, check her hair or outfit or make up, walk to the other couch, sit down for ten seconds, and repeat.

"Would you stop? You're going to kill your feet in those heels before you even make it out the door." said Caitlin, walking in with a box of cookies and plopping onto the couch, "You look fine."

"Maybe I should stay in and watch Christmas movies with you."

"Maybe you're an idiot," Caitlin countered, "You have a hot date. You look amazing. It is practically a guarantee that he is taking you to eat somewhere with really good food and that he'll open the door and help you with your chair. If it sucks, we will be back in Malibu tomorrow and you can curl up on the couch with your parents and watch as many Hallmark movies as you want."

The doorbell rang before Josephine could answer her.

"Oh my gosh, it's him. Do I look okay?" Joei asked.

"I literally just told you that you look perfect. Get it together, girl. You can pass a torture test but you can't chill in front of a guy?"

"My only relationship wasn't exactly a gold standard, Caitlin."

"Go. Open the door. I'll sit here and pretend not to notice."

"Okay."

Josephine smoothed out her dress and quietly berated herself for acting like a fourteen year old girl. With a smile, she opened the door wide.

Her smile faltered instantly. "James."

"Uh, Joei, hi." said James, looking as tall and handsome as ever in his S.H.I.E.L.D suit. Sometimes she really missed him, "You're busy. I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt or anything..."

At that moment Alex Quinn appeared in her line of sight, making his way toward her door behind James.

"Alex," Joei did her best impression of a sincere smile, "Hi."

"Hey, Joei. You're ready," he smiled back, although she didn't miss the look of confusion as to another boy standing at Joei's door in a suit. Joei did her best not to compare the two.

"Yeah, I was actually just finishing up when James got here."

"Oh, I'm so rude, I'm sorry," said Alex, extending his hand to James, "I'm Alex Quinn, a friend of Joei's."

"I'm James Fullerton," said James, though he didn't take Alex's hand, "I'm-"

"Here to see me!" Caitlin had suddenly appeared next to Josephine and was dragging James inside while also pushing Josephine out, "We were going to watch some Christmas movies and stuff before Joei and I have to leave tomorrow. Josephine, here is your coat, and your purse. You two have fun, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and stay warm. We wouldn't want Joei catching a cold before her big Christmas charity carnival now would we?"

"You're hosting a charity carnival?"

"It's part of my orphan education program," Joei said, feeling embarrassed.

"Alright well, you two have fun, be back by midnight, bye!" with that, Caitlin slammed the door shut behind them.

Joei and Alex stood on the front step for a few seconds, still a little shocked. It wasn't until the words "What the hell" were clearly head from inside that Joei decided it was time to move.

"So, that was a little weird," she said.

Alex laughed good-naturedly as he led her down the steps and toward the sidewalk, "It was definitely the most eventful beginning of a date I've ever had. Caitlin sure looked excited to get you out the door."

"She really loves Christmas movies," Joei laughed before deciding that it was time to change the subject, "So where are we going?"

"I'd tell you but it would ruin the surprise," he said, "My car is just down there."

"You're not going to kidnap me, are you?"

"Would you let me?"

"My family and I have a complicated history with kidnappings."

"Oh, Josephine, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you!"

Joei laughed harder this time, "Alex, I was just kidding."

"Oh. You have a strange sense of humor, did you know that?" Alex laughed nervously.

"I'm aware. I promise you'll get used to it. You should hear me and my dad."

"I'm sure growing up around a genius makes you pretty quick witted." he nodded.

"I don't think I'd be able to survive in that house if I wasn't," Joei joked, "But there's never a dull moment. And I learned to talk really fast."

"A trait that I think rubbed off on Caitlin." he noted, "This is my car."

"Well Caitlin is part of the family now," she said as he raced over to open the car door for her, "Thank you, you don't have to act like a gentleman to impress me, though, really."

She was safely in her seat and he leaned down with his arm on the door so that their eyes were level, "Who said I was just acting?"

Not for the first time, Joei was taken aback by how smooth he could be sometimes, "Well then...I guess you can just keep doing what you're doing."

He chuckled and nodded before closing the door and making his way to the driver's side of the car.

"Now are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I did."

"We're not leaving the country are we? Because we'd have to go back and grab my passport."

"Well I did have a trip to Venice scheduled but your nanny wants you home by midnight," he joked, "So I guess it's off to that French restaurant on Main Street and then I was thinking we could hit that swanky new dance hall that opened downtown?"

"Oh, the one with the theme nights? I've been trying to get Caitlin to go with me since they announced it but she thinks it'll only fuel the rumors that she's my sugar baby."

"But she's older than you."

"Tabloids don't care about silly things like age and facts."

"Touche. So what do you think?"

"I think you should start the car because there is a coffee Crème Brûlée with my name on it waiting to be eaten at La Fleur."

"Well then we better hurry. You wouldn't want somebody else to eat it."

"That would be a true tragedy."

Two hours later, their meal was long finished but they had yet to move from their table. The awkwardness of the first date had melted away before they had even reached the restaurant, and Josephine was enjoying the conversations immensely. It had been a long time since she'd found someone that she could relate to in regards to their upbringing. Even before Ian Quinn had built his empire, Alex's parents had been high ranking members of social circles in both Manhattan and Miami. Alex had not been as exposed to the spotlight as Joei had, but his pictures had made the front page on occasion, and he was surrounded by famous friends.

"Is it true that you said no to a date with Lindsay Lohan once?"

"In a dream, maybe," he laughed, "I don't think Lindsay and I have ever been in the same room together. I doubt she even knows who I am. My turn...is it true that you broke into a Victoria's Secret in the middle of the night?"

"Okay now you're just making that up!"

"I am not, I swear. I saw it in a trash mag on vacation in Greece last year."

"That is totally not true. They send me free stuff so I'll show up to their fashion shows, why on earth would I need to break in?"

"Really? I wish I was famous enough to get free stuff just for existing."

"I do not get it for existing," she said defensively, "It's a marketing strategy."

"So your existence is so prominent that your presence alone is a justifiable marketing strategy?"

"Now you're just making fun of me," Joei pouted.

"I am," Alex chuckled, "I'm very sorry. Will you ever forgive me?"

"I might if I'm taken dancing as was promised."

"I did promise, didn't I? And the waiter already left the check, didn't he? I guess it's time to go."

"Make sure to leave a good tip."

"I always do."

"Now you're just trying to impress me."

"I swear, I am an exceptional tipper. I even tip at the college cafe."

"Well at least I know now that you are a decent human being."

"I hope you'll consider me more than just decent."

"All in good time, sir."

"Shall we, my lady?" he offered his arm and Joei gleefully linked hers through it, her coat hanging on her other arm.

"Off to the ball we go."

When Josephine closed the door behind her at exactly twelve oh-three later that evening, she closed her eyes for a moment and allowed herself a private smile. Her cheeks were aching from all the smiling and her feet were aching from all the dancing. She almost peaked through the window to watch Alex walk back to his car as she slipped out of her shoes, but she could feel a pair of eyes on her back. She turned and noticed that there were two people in the living room.

"What the hell are you still doing here?"

"Now, Josephine," said Caitlin, standing up form the couch and slowly walking toward her friend, "You should hear him out before you try to kill him."

"You have five minutes," Joei glared at James, grabbing her soes and placing them near the coat hanger.

"The twins sent me their Christmas presents for you. They couldn't stop by because they're on a mission with their S.O., but I figured I would deliver them along with my own. And also I was hoping to apologize."

"Apologize?"

"Yeah," Jimmy shrugged and stood form the couch. Caitlin had seemingly disappeared, "Look, I know that I acted like a jerk, and that I didn't trust you. And I'm sorry."

Joei sighed and walked toward the couch, "It wasn't just you. I acted like a jerk, too."

"We weren't exactly the definition of a power couple, were we?"

"No. I guess not."

"I was jealous. I'm not afraid to admit that anymore." said Jimmy, sitting on the coffee table so he could face her, "I was jealous that you were already so focused on your role as an agent and you were going on missions and holding information that only higher level agents had...and I've just been bouncing from one job to another."

"I knew that," Joei nodded, "Even if you didn't say anything I knew and yet I didn't take any of your feelings into account for anything. You were jealous and I was...indifferent. If it makes you feel any better, I have no idea what I'm doing with my life right now, except for maybe with my charity project."

"It doesn't, but thanks. We're both still figuring out this secret agent thing, I guess."

"Yeah. Maybe we're too young for something so complicated. You know Professor Garner used to be married to a S.H.I.E.L.D agent?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, and even though he works with S.H.I.E.L.D I guess the secrets and the baggage were too much anyway. I mean I've never asked him about his divorce. It's already weird enough that he still has a picture of her on his desk, I figure asking would be crossing some sort of line. But if two grown adults can't make it work..."

"We probably can't either," James agreed, "But we were pretty good friends before, weren't we?"

"We were," she nodded, "I think we were more supportive as friends than we were as a couple."

"Yeah. So, that's really all I wanted to say. I've been placed in charge of asset tracking, which means I'm supposed to know where the agents and consultants in the area go and when and how they go. I saw you were leaving tomorrow and just wanted to come talk to you before you left. And bring you your gifts, obviously."

"Thanks, Jimmy," she stood and he did the same, taking a step toward the front door, "I'm sorry you had to wait up all night."

"I'm sorry I ruined the beginning of your date."

"About that...are we...I mean, is it a problem?"

"Um," he rubbed the back of his neck like he always did when he got nervous, "About that...part of why I wanted to make sure we were cool was because there's this girl in my building and..."

"Say no more," Joei laughed softly, "We're cool."

"Cool. Enjoy your Christmas, Josephine."

"Hey, if you're not doing anything on New Years Eve, would you be interested in flying to Malibu? I'm hosting an indoor carnival for my kids."

"Kids?"

"Um, it's what I've started calling the scholarship recipients. Calling them 'the orphans' felt kind of mean, and well some of them are still in kindergarten so...I just started calling them my kids."

"That sounds great. Maybe I can convince Murrow to stop by. We're supposed to report to the Hawaii base the day after that."

"I hope you can make it. I'll put your name on the guest list."

* * *

 **December 31, 2011**

"Hey no running!" Joei called as a group of eight year-olds whizzed past her, their chaperone looking particularly worn out as she chased after them.

"Missie Stark Missie Stark!" Joei looked down at the child who was pulling her bracelet. She was nine or ten, and standing with two boys who wore the same colored tags as she did. Joei had assigned a color to each group home or school group that was coming in, and every child had a name tag in their respective color pinned to their chest so that they were easier to keep track of.

"Yes, Annie?" asked Joei, taking a quick look at the little girl's name tag.

"Max says girls can't be as good as boys at basketball but I says I bet you could beat any of the boys here at the basketball game."

"Not as good as boys?" Joei asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy in question, "Young man, I will have you know that girls are _so_ good at basketball that they had to create a professional basketball league just for girls, otherwise they would have beat all the boys teams. Tell you what? You get to pick the boy, and if he beats me I will buy you boys an ice cream the size of your head, but if I win then you have to give Annie one of your tickets so she can buy herself that ice cream. What do you think?"

The food and games at the carnival were actually free, and while the kids did get "tickets" to "pay" for everything, all they had to do was go to a ticket stand and ask for more, where they would be given tickets ten at a time to avoid anybody hogging certain rides or games. There was also a rule that said you could only ride or play two times in a row, and then you would have to go back to the line so that other kids could get a turn.

"Deal!" said Max, who despite not being more than ten looked like he had pondered the pros and cons of the deal like a mob boss. He turned toward the boy next to him, whose name was Frankie, and they whispered to each other and nodded, before pointing at a person behind Josephine, "I choose him!"

Joei turned around and tried not to laugh, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes."

Joei walked toward where Alex Quinn was standing admiring a fourth grader's Q-Tip Artwork, oblivious to her approach. She hadn't noticed at first, but her hand had ended up wrapped around Annie's much smaller one.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Alex turned around with a bright smile as he recognized her, "Hi."

Joei tried to be subtle about her motioning toward the children as she stretched out a hand, "Hello, I'm Josephine Stark, and my friends and I were wondering if you'd like to enter a little game we've decided to play. It's just your typical boy versus girl competition."

"Oh really?" asked Alex, going along instantly, "And what would this competition entail?"

"You have to beat Miss Stark at the basketball game!" said Frankie, who up until then had said nothing.

"And what do I get if I win?" asked Alex.

"Miss Stark said that I would get an ice cream as big as my HEAD!"

"But what do I get?" asked Alex, looking unmotivated.

Frankie and Alex whispered at each other again, seemingly negotiating. Alex and Joei made eye contact and broke it quickly, both stifling giggles at the children's antics. Finally, the two boys nodded and looked at Alex, "We'll share our ice creams with you."

"How generous," said Alex, "I'm in. Lead the way to the basketball game, kids."

The three children made their way to the game booth, arguing about the outcome of the competition and leaving Joei and Alex to walk behind them.

"Fancy seeing you here," said Joei, "I wasn't sure you'd come. I thought you were in Malta."

"I got bored of the business talk and waiting in my hotel room for Uncle Ian to finish his meetings. My mother wanted to do some shopping in the Hills so I thought I'd make the drive down here. This building is amazing, did you have it built just for this?" Alex asked, looking up at the open ceiling of the coliseum/dome that housed the carnival.

"Yeah, I wanted something open enough that it would still feel like a carnival but closed enough that I wouldn't have to worry about kids and teenagers escaping. Some of these kids look happy, but there are kids out there that think running away and living on the street will solve their problems."

"Were you one of them?" he asked.

"No. I was too young to start thinking about those things, and I didn't really know any other sort of life until my dad came along. I was taken into the orphanage when I was a baby so it's all I ever knew. By the time those sorts of thoughts could get to me, I had already met Dad, and a few weeks later he had already offered to adopt me."

"Honestly, I've been here for thirty minutes and I can tell that none of these kids are thinking of running away. You're changing their lives already."

"Thanks. It means a lot that you think so."

"So, if you don't mind my changing the subject, did you see our pictures on TMZ?" Alex asked, bumping his shoulder with hers.

"Caitlin made sure to leave the DVR recording so we wouldn't miss it. Did you see the cover of InTouch?"

"Yeah. They didn't capture my good side, though."

"Oh shut up, you know you don't even have a bad side."

"We're here, we're here!" the kids shouted.

"Hello there, sir," Joei said loudly to the game operator, "My friend and I would like to play a round."

"That will be two tickets, Miss."

Joei procured two tickets and handed them to the operator. Before he could explain the rules of the game, a familiar voice sounded behind Joei.

"There's my wonderful daughter!"

Joei turned to see her parents had arrived from their business meeting. Tony was wearing a charcoal gray three piece suit and Pepper wore a black and blue dress with killer blue high heels.

"I just had a great idea," said Joei, "Why don't we team up?"

"For what?" asked Pepper.

"Miss Potts, you and I are going to show these kids that girls can be even better basketball players than boys. Dad, you're teaming up with Alex."

"Alex, is it?" Tony raised an eyebrow at Alex. Of course, Tony had already seen the articles and the TMZ segment. For Alex's part, he seemed to not be intimidated. Joesphine was impressed.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Stark," Alex extended a hand and gave Tony a firm handshake, "What do you think? Can we defend the boys?"

"Well, I suppose we can try," said Tony, unbuttoning his coat and draping it over the shoulders of a very excited little boy who was nearby, "Will you hold on to this for me for a minute?"

"Yes," the boy nodded excitedly, "I'll take good care of it, Mr. Stark."

"Thank you..." Tony moved the coat to peak at the boy's name tag, "Thank you, Johnathan."

"Two more player, please," said Josephine to the operator, handing him two more tickets.

"Alright, when that timer starts, the basketballs will pour out and you will have exactly one minute to shoot as many baskets as you can. Whoever makes the most shots wins. Since you're teaming up, I suppose we'll just add up the shots for each team and get the winner from there. Any questions?"

"Do I have to shoot with my hands?" asked Tony.

"Yes, Mr. Stark, you must shoot with your hands. And no climbing on. You have to stay standing on the ground. Any more questions?" asked the operator. "Nobody? In that case, get ready, get set, and GO!"

"What are the chances your dad will let us win?" Pepper muttered as she threw a ball and missed.

Joei focused on the basket. It was just like target practice, only a basketball was much bigger than a bullet.

"Well I'm trying to teach these kids a lesson so I'm hoping they're high."

Joei made her first shot, and then Tony made his second. Joei and Pepper made one more each and Alex made another. As the seconds passed, they were tied.

"Ten more seconds!" cried the operator. Around them kids and chaperones alike had gathered to watch the competition. Joei heard the clicks of various cameras around them.

Joei made another shot, Alex made another, and then Pepper and Tony picked up a ball to make their own shots. Pepper's shot went straight through the hoop, while Tony's bounced on the edge and fell away.

"Girls win!"

Pepper and Joei hugged in excitement while Alex and Tony gave each other a pat on the back and clapped for the girls. Joei looked around for Annie, picking her up and giving her a tight hug and a high five.

"Okay! Okay!" Joei called through the crowd so they would quiet down, "I know I said that if the girls won, the boys would have to give Annie a ticket so she could buy a giant ice cream. But because I'm so happy that Mo-Miss Potts and I won, I declare that EVERYBODY GETS A GIANT ICE CREAM!"

A chorus of "YAY" and "Awesome!" ran through the crowd and Joei led the way toward the ice cream stand. She'd approached small businesses to provide them with all of the coolest treats in the Los Angeles area, and most of them had delivered when they'd heard the amount she was offering them. It was winter, but the Southern California weather was still decent enough for an ice cream cone the size of a small child's head.

Leaving two of the organizers she'd hired to deal wit the Ice Cream rush, she made her way toward the Tomorrow Today Pavilion with her parents and Alex in tow, where a handful of reporters were waiting to get a statement.

"I hate when I actually have to talk to them. It's was so much easier when I just had to look cute and smile and wave and hold dad's hand."

"Well, you're not a baby anymore, honey," said Pepper, "It's time to face the depths of hell like the rest of us."

"That makes me feel so much better, Mom," said Joei.

"You mean Miss Potts," said Tony.

"No one heard me."

Although they and been together for a while now, Pepper and Tony had let the world simply speculate on their relationship status, which is why Joei continued to refer to her as Pepper or Miss Potts outside of their social circle.

"...and if you take even a few minutes to look around at these children you will see what I have been seeing for months now and that is the ginormous impact that this program is having on these kids." the presenter at the podium was saying, "Ah, and here she is, the woman of the hour. Miss Stark, welcome. And a big welcome to Stark Industries CEO Virginia Potts and Mr. Tony Stark, without whom this project never would have come to fruition. Welcome, welcome."

Pepper and Tony took a seat at the front row, while Alex quietly made his way toward the back of the small tent that had been set up in the lunch pavilion to watch the press conference.

"Miss Stark, I now hand the microphones over to you," said the presenter, indicating the various microphones from different channels that were connected to the podium.

Josephine made her way to the podium with a smile, tucking back a strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. She faced the press and motioned at her Carnival t-shirt, jeans, and red Converse All Stars. "I'm usually much better dressed for these things, I promise."

The press chuckled lightly as they always did, and Josephine began her presentation.

"Before I start, I just want to give a huge thank you to Mr. Jackson who was up here just now. He really deserves a lot of the credit for making all of this possible. While I've been away at school he and my assistant have been texting and calling and e-mailing each other constantly, coming up with all of the plans and the events and the fundraisers and just all of the little details that come with an idea as huge as this. Mr. Jackson has previously worked as a Social Worker and as a school counselor so I know that he understands better than anyone what these kids need and what will put them on a positive path full of learning and growth and just overall happiness. He has been a partner in making this project a reality and even if I had all of the money and the time and the resources, this project never could have seen the light of day if it wasn't for him. So please, if you could all just give him the round of applause that he deserves."

The press offered Mr. Jackson an enthusiastic round of applause and Joei was pleased to see him getting so emotional. She had hired Mr. Jackson after months of searching for someone who could help her make the project a reality.

"I would also like to announce something very important. Up until now this project hadn't really been given a name. Everybody has just been making up names for it like Josephine Stark's orphan project or Josephine Stark's Scholarship or things like that. I think it's about time that this project was given a name, and after some thought and careful consideration, I think I've found the perfect name for it, and that's the Jackson-Stark Education Foundation, J-SEF for short."

From her place on the podium, Josephine could see Mr. Jackson' eyes get watery. He was a kind faced, soft spoken man in his forties. He was patient and nurturing to all of the children who crossed his path, but also very no-nonsense when it came to work, and incredibly intelligent.

"Now that we've established the name, I would like to thank you all for being here today. This carnival is only a small part of what J-SEF will be doing for these kids. So far, there are eighty-two children who have become recipients of our grants and scholarships. They have received school uniforms, shoes, backpacks, school supplies, books on various subjects to read in their down time, educational games and toys, and in two cases, college scholarships as they continue their education and take it to the next level. Today we decided to put school on hold for a bit, seeing as it is vacation time, and let kids be kids.

"What many people don't realize about being in an orphanage or a group home is that no matter how well off you are, outings tend to be few and far in between. Things like carnivals and movie tickets can get expensive when you're looking after anywhere between five and ten kids. That's why today I decided to let children be children in a place that is safe and fun. You'll notice that every entrance and exit, including the emergency exits, has two security members standing at the ready. There is also surveillance all around in just about every corner of this dome. The only way for a kid to get out without permission from their chaperon is if they scale the wall and climb out of the roof. And while I wouldn't put it past a couple of the wilder second graders, I'm sure Iron Man will be happy to jet up there and bring them back down to the ground," she joked.

"I think now is the time to take a few questions, and then I'll go back to enjoying some time with these kids. Who's first? Ah, Bob, good to see you, what's your question?"

"Josephine, what is the next step in the project? Is it true you're planning on building a school?"

"No that's not fair, you crammed two questions in there!" said Joei playfully before answering, "There are no plans for any school just yet. We are, however, looking into the idea of creating a couple of tutoring centers for any of the kids who might be struggling with certain subjects, and maybe even for those who excel at a certain subject to be able to tutor the younger students and make some extra pocket money. Other than that, we want more kids to become a part of J-SEF and eventually expand into other parts of the country and maybe one day into other parts of the world."

"Thank you," said Bob.

Josephine got two more questions related to the project and the carnival before the questions she had half expected came.

"Miss Stark, I know this may be unrelated to the subject at hand, but can you confirm any of the rumors related to your intimate relationship with the owner of Quinn Worldwide's nephew, Alex Quinn? I believe he's in attendance here today."

"You're right, he is in attendance here today," Josephine nodded, "And you're also right in stating that your question has nothing to do with the subject at hand, so if I ever decide to hold a press conference in regards to my personal life, I will be sure to let you and your website's editors know first."

Pepper looked extremely pleased by her answer, Tony looked both smug and impressed as he made eye contact with the reporter who had asked the question, and Alex looked impressed.

"I'm afraid that for now that's all the time I have for questions," said Josephine, "I believe there's a hypnosis show going on in about fifteen minutes at the mini theater which can be found just behind the pony rides. If anyone would care to join me, I for one am looking forward to seeing who the hypnotist forces to cluck like a chicken."

* * *

 **There you have it. Some insight into Josephine's life between one crisis and another. I'm working on Chapter 2 now, and it should be up soon! Until then, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back! I've been having a lot of trouble uploading this chapter but I finally got the uploader to cooperate.**

* * *

 **January 20th, 2012**

"If my grandfather found the Tesseract so many years ago, why are we only examining it now?" asked Josephine as she made her way down a corridor of the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility at the heals of Director Fury and Erik Selvig. Agent Barton followed just behind her.

"Because we didn't understand what it was," Fury admitted, "We knew HYDRA used the cube to make weapons, but the World Security Council was apprehensive at best about developing such weapons."

"All of that changed thanks to the arrival of Thor and your father's new element." explained Selvig, who was looking worse for wear, "The Destroyer helped us understand more about how other planets harness energy. And with the new element we were able to control the energy surges from the Tesserat enough to study it."

"So what is it? How does it create energy?"

"It's a doorway," said Selvig.

"A doorway? To where?"

"To other parts of the universe." said Fury, "As far as we can tell, it doesn't get its energy from anywhere. It _is_ energy. Pure and clean and without limits."

"That doesn't sound dangerous." said Josephine sarcastically, "So what's the plan? Space exploration? Contact with aliens? Tesseract powered cars?"

"For now the plan is to further examine and understand it," said Fury as they entered the chamber where the Tesseract was kept, "Once we know how to use it, we'll go from there."

"It's smaller than I thought it would be," said Joei, tilting her head at the cube suspended in the middle of a reactor.

"Don't let her fool you," said Selvig, "She's got more information stored in one atom than all the atoms in this planet."

"Barton, Stark, a word please?" Fury called from the other side of the room. Joei and Barton followed him up some stairs to where they were out of hearing range.

"What are we looking at here, director?" asked Barton, "Is it safe to continue with this project?"

"The Council believes it is, and I do, too," said Fury, keeping his voice low, "But I brought you in, Barton, because I need somebody I can trust to watch over these experiments. Selvig's been acting stranger than usual. I don't want to run the risk of him running tests he shouldn't, or working under the interests of someone other than S.H.I.E.L.D, that includes himself."

"He must know that he won't get anywhere near the cube without us letting him," said Joei.

"He does, but that doesn't mean he can't filter information while he's here. Barton, I need you to keep an eye out. Stark, I called you hear because you're the only one who's seen your father's element at work up close. Is what he sent us the real thing?"

"Yeah, that's Starkonium. And while I do trust you, director, I would like to make one request."

"What would that be?"

"That you never use Starkonium without my express permission and a full report of its intended use ever again, regardless of whether my dad signs the papers or not."

"I will consider your request."

"Thank you." said Joei, knowing that was as close to a yes as she would ever get, "Will that be all, Director?"

"That will be all. I believe Agent Coulson was hoping to catch a word with you before you left."

She found Coulson in his makeshift office.

"You wanted to see me, Agent Coulson?"

"Josephine, come in, come in," said Agent Coulson, "You know you should just call me Phil."

Joei scrunched up her nose, "I'll think about it. What's going on?"

"I wanted to thank you for your assessments. Dr. Garner has been doing a good job with you."

"My assessments on a bunch of dead test subjects?"

"Formerly dead," Coulson clarified.

"Excuse me?"

"You'll want to sit down for this one," said Coulson, and she obliged, "Fury and I both decided to keep you in the dark about our latest project involving the Avengers until we got some results."

"What kind of project?"

"The test subjects whose assessments you did were dead at some point or another," he continued, "We revived them."

"How?"

"With a serum. The idea was to create a process through which a fallen Avenger could be brought back to life even after the allotted few minutes that are customary for reviving someone."

Joei felt a knot in the pit of her stomach, "Did you really think that was...ethical? Those limits exist for a reason. Not to mention the severe brain damage..."

"The project offered a solution to all of that. The test subjects were revived and came back just as fit and physically stable as before they'd died. But...an array of problems, including the question of how ethical the project was, led me to determine that the project had to be shut down."

"It wasn't just an ethics thing, though, was it? Otherwise you would have shut it down after the first test subject. Something happened. What was it?"

Coulson sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Just say it, Coulson. What happened?"

"We're not sure. Something from the serum made the test subjects' mental state become increasingly unstable, many to the point of violence or even self-harm. Director Fury resorted to erasing their memories of their death and their time in the project."

"We can do that?" Joei asked in shock. She felt like the knot in her stomach had spread to the rest of her body and was twisting painfully to get out from underneath her skin.

"It's not something S.H.I.E.L.D often partakes in, but we were able to do it on the test subjects to keep them from doing themselves or others any more harm. The project was shut down and all evidence, research, and materials have been destroyed."

"And there's no chance of this project ever coming back?" asked Josephine.

"No."

The uneasy feeling in her body subsided somewhat, but the contents of her stomach were still hoping to escape, "We're a powerful organization, but we're not gods. I know Avengers aren't exactly easy to come by, but bringing people back from the dead well after they've died just doesn't sit well with me."

"You have nothing to worry about anymore. I just thought we should tell you, even if the experiment did fail."

"Thank you for your honesty, Agent Coulson. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"That will be all, Miss Stark."

* * *

 **February 14, 2012**

"Caitlin, have you seen my ruby earrings?"

"In the downstairs bathroom," answered Caitlin.

"What would I do without you?" Joei asked, crossing the living room to the half bathroom.

"Never find anything."

"Ah, there they are," Joei said to herself when she found the earrings on the bathroom counter.

"Are you sure that it's okay for me to go out?" Caitlin asked for the fourth time that afternoon.

"Caitlin, I don't think I'm going to get kidnapped over dinner. It's Valentine's Day. Go on a hot date, go to a party, get drunk off your ass, or do whatever you feel like doing. Besides, if somone does try to kidnap me, I think my fight skills have improved enough to take care of myself."

"You are getting really good," Caitlin nodded, "You almost pinned Natasha down the other day."

"And Jimmy totally ate my dust," Joei snickered.

"About that...Jimmy says he bumped into Alex at the grocery store. Alex asked what happened to him because of the black eye."

"I still feel bad about that. I didn't mean to elbow him. What did he tell Alex?"

"That he fell down the stairs."

Joei and Caitlin both laughed.

"But anyway," said Caitlin, "I was wondering if you're planning on telling Alex anything. I mean one of these days one of us is going to get called in for a mission or something really weird is going to go down and I don't think 'business trip' is going to cut it all the time."

"I know, but what's the normal amount of time you're supposed to see someone before you tell them you're a super spy? I mean I haven't even told my family. And Alex and I aren't really a couple yet. We've only gone on a few dates."

"But he's always here," Caitlin pointed out.

"So is Jimmy."

"Jimmy's our friend, Joei. And we surprisingly have a lot in common. Alex, on the other hand, is not just your friend. He's the guy you're dating, and I can tell that he likes you a lot and you like him, too. I just want you to be happy with someone, and not have to worry about making up an alibi."

"But I'll still have to lie to him," said Joei, "Even if I do tell him I'm a secret agent or part of a secret organization, I will have to lie every time I get sent on a mission."

"Not necessarily, you just won't be able to tell him where you're going. Listen, you don't have to decide right now, but if things get more serious I really think you should tell him."

The doorbell rang then, and Josephine wasn't surprised to find both Alex and Jimmy at the door. They were both extremely punctual. Joei was starting to think that they did it on purpose.

"Hey, Joei, nice dress," said Jimmy, letting himself inside to say hello to Caitlin, "You're going to freeze to death in that."

Caitlin rolled her eyes, "I was going to put on a sweater, but now I might have to stay this way just to make you spend the entire night scowling."

"I don't scowl."

"Yes, you do," Alex and Joei answered at the same time, looking at each other and laughing lightly as Caitlin and Jimmy resumed their usual overprotective bickering.

"You look beautiful," said Alex, lightly touching a curl that ran down her arm, "I hadn't realized how long your hair was."

Joei shrugged, "I've almost always got it pulled up these days. It took me forever to curl it, though, I thought my arms were going to fall off by the time it was done."

"It looks great," he assured. "You look great."

"You know, you don't clean up too bad yourself. Although I'm more of a red and gold girl," she said, indicating his blue and silver tie.

"Noted. I'll be sure to buy more Iron Man themed clothes in the future."

"How about tonight we avoid any and all talk about our families?" said Josephine, walking toward the couch to get her coat.

"Agreed," said Alex, opening the door for her, "It's Valentine's Day, and talking about our parents is probably the least romantic subject we could possibly breach."

Josephine looked back at Caitlin and Jimmy, who were arguing over which of Caitlin's sweaters looked better next to Jimmy's blazer.

"Caitlin, neither of those sweaters look as good with that dress as the blue one you have upstairs. Go put that one on and get out of this apartment before all the parties are over and the bars are closed. You two have fun and take care of each other. I don't want to have to pay anyone's bail in the morning."

"We promise to behave," said Jimmy, "Cait, go get your blue sweater."

"Don't boss me around," said Caitlin, but she floated up the stairs in giddy excitement over the night to come.

"Can we take my car tonight?" asked Joei when they were finally out the door.

"Sure," Alex nodded. They'd taken turns driving for the most part, and he'd already had two turns to drive. Besides, he was not afraid to admit that Josephine's car was infinitely cooler than his "But only if I get to talk to FRIDAY."

"You realize that my AI is not a real person, right? She isn't flattered by your flirting. She's just confused because she wasn't programmed to interact with someone who flirts with her."

"You're jealous of your car's computer."

"She is not a computer," said Joei as they stepped into the car and she started the engine, "And I am not jealous."

"Hey, Fri."

"Her name is FRIDAY," Joei sniffed.

"Good evening, Mr. Quinn."

"It's always a good evening if I get to talk to you."

Joei rolled her eyes. She would program FRIDAY to say snarky things back before their next date.

"I'm glad that my presence improves your mood, Mr. Quinn. Miss Stark, where are we headed?"

"Ask Romeo," Joei muttered.

"I believe that would be you, Mr. Quinn." FRIDAY answered.

"FRIDAY, take us to La Fleur, please."

"Ooo, we haven't gone there since our first date," said Joei, "The lady next to us was eating some creame puffs for dessert and I swear it was like she was having the most amazing moment of her entire life. I have to order it this time."

"I'm trying to be romantic and all she thinks about is dessert," Alex shook his head.

"In my defense, dessert is like an integral part of my survival. It's right up there with drinking water."

"You're supposed to eat healthy." Alex pointed out.

"I eat healthy in every part of every other meal. Let a girl eat some cake. It's not like I don't work out every day. Besides, I could be addicted to something worse, like cocaine."

He stared at her blankly and then began to laugh, "Drive, please."

"Driving now." Joei smiled.

When they arrived at the restaurant, people waiting outside were quick to take their picture. Most locals already knew that a handful of famous kids attended Culver and were often seen around town, but Joei was perhaps the most popular one at the moment, what with her face being on the cover of two magazines in the past three months and her project all over the news, not to mention all the pictures the tabloids were buying off people for their stories on her relationship with Alex.

For the most part, she kept her head down, although she did end up flashing a peace sign at one of the last people who tried to be subtle about taking her picture with their phone. Alex gave his name at the door and they were ushered inside. A quick check in with the host and they were being led to a table in a secluded corner, hidden slightly behind a pillar.

"I saw this table last time and figured it was the best table in the house for us," said Alex, "It doesn't have the best view, but they can't see us, either."

"I don't know," said Joei, resting a hand on her chin and looking at Alex directly, "The view is pretty good from where I'm sitting."

"I thought I was the smooth one, Miss Stark."

"Well maybe I've learned a thing or two, Mr. Quinn."

Joei batted her eyelashes comically at him before taking her menu and positioning it so it covered her face. After a few seconds she peaked over it to find that Alex was doing the same thing, his eyes just visible over the top of the menu.

With a chuckle he put the menu down and she followed suit.

"What do you think? Duck or chicken?"

"I was thinking frog legs."

Alex looked up at her with a curious expression.

"What?"

"You are quite possibly the only girl I have ever seen that doesn't make a face at the prospect of frog legs."

"Well they taste pretty good. And clearly the other girls you've dated aren't as strange as I am."

"Clearly."

"So, duck or frog?"

"What about snails?"

"Ew."

"Ah, so there is at least one food on this planet that you won't eat."

"Snails are gross and slimy and gross. I think I'll have the beef bourguinon."

After dinner they decided to take a walk. On nights like tonight, when the string lights above the streets of Downtown were lit and soft music played through speakers on the roofs of the small shops and cafes and restaurants, Joei was reminded of small towns she had only ever seen on TV. Life was like an episode of Gilmore Girls, where everybody talked really fast but Friday nights seemed to last forever.

"Hey, look," said Alex as they approached the town square. A group of elderly people were playing jazz music on the grass, their instruments set in front of microphones that led to the speakers all around the Downtown District. The large gazebo in the middle had a few couples of different ages dancing slowly and looking all different levels of in love.

The music stopped for a moment, and then a familiar song began to play.

"La Vie en Rose," said Alex as Joei started to hum to the music.

"It's my favorite," Joei nodded, "I know it in English and the original French."

"May I have this dance?" asked, Alex, extending a hand.

Josephine nodded and walked to the gazebo with him hand in hand.

She hadn't listened to this song in a long time. Maybe that was why it remained her favorite. She usually only ever head it when Pepper was around, or as a pleasant surprise like this one. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't listened to La Vie en Rose since last year, inside a cabin in the woods with a guy who was considerably less light on his feet. Where Steve had been uncertain and stiff, Alex was confident and led her across the gazebo with such soft steps she felt like she was floating in his arms, her toes barely touching the ground before she was swaying again.

Halfway through the song, he had pulled her closer and she found that in her heels she could rest her chin on his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered closed as the words of the song washed over her.

"Joei?"

"Hmm?"

"I was going to wait until we were sitting down somewhere, but I don't think I'll ever be able to recreate a moment like this one my own so...I want to ask you something."

She was tempted to make a joke to hide how nervous she was, but apparently Alex was basing his question on the mood of the moment and she decided she wouldn't let her nerves ruin that.

"Yes?" she nearly whispered.

"Well, reporters keep asking me if we're a couple. My friends keep asking me if we're a couple. Hell, even my family keeps asking."

"Do they?"

"Yes. And I was wondering...next time someone asks me if we're a couple..."

"Say yes." she smiled, "The next time anyone asks, say yes."

"What about you?"

"I'll say yes, too." she said simply, and his smile was so bright that Joei couldn't help but to lean in and kiss him in the middle of that crowded gazebo.

* * *

 **May 1, 2012**

Movie night had become a recurring event for Joei, Alex, Jimmy, and Caitlin. They had an ever growing list of movies that they insisted on watching, and every week someone would take turns picking a slip of paper with a movie title on it out of a jar. Tonight Alex had drawn the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movie, a result which he was none too happy with.

"They're fucking terrifying!" he argued as Joei and Caitlin began taking snacks out of grocery bags and he held his cell phone against his ear, "Jim still isn't answering. Maybe he got caught up at work."

Joei and Caitlin exchanged worried glances, quickly turning them to confused shrugs when Alex stepped into the kitchen.

"I feel bad starting without him," said Alex.

"Me too," said Joei, "I'll try to text him one last time, and if he doesn't answer then we can lounge around and watch TV or something. We can leave the movie for next week."

"Or never," Alex pitched in.

"You can't be saved from the sentient apes, Al," said Caitlin, "Sooner or later, they will find you."

"You are a terrible friend."

Josephine walked back to the living room with her phone, typing out a quick text to Jimmy.

 _Everything okay?_

The reply only took a few seconds. _ETA 20 secs. Level 7._

Level 7. What the hell was a Level 7? Joei wished she'd taken the time to learn all the emergency codes. Nuclear war was definitely a Level 8...or was it a six? The "Mandarin Bombings" had been classified as a Sub-Level Four, meaning that they were something to pay attention to, but not something S.H.I.E.L.D. was getting involved in just yet.

She didn't have time to wonder much longer because the doorbell rang four times in quick succession.

"There he is!" Alex whizzed past her to open the door for a very pale looking James.

"Joei, Cait, we're leaving." Jimmy said as soon as the door slammed shut behind him.

"What?" Caitlin asked, still unaware that anything was wrong.

"There's been a Level 7..."

"Which I would understand the severity of if I could actually remember what a Level 7 is."

"Hostile extraterrestrial activity."

"Like...how many extraterrestrials?" Joei asked, almost saddened that a question like that could actually be normal.

"Just one. But he stole something from the Dark Energy Facility."

"What?" Joei blanched, "What did he steal?"

"I don't know, Josephine, you're the only here who actually knows what they do at that facility. It was something important. The main attraction."

"The cube. Holy shit. Holy Holy Holy shit."

"Excuse me, could someone explain what the hell is happening and why I'm being so thoroughly ignored?" asked Alex, looking annoyed.

Joei groaned and turned to look at him, momentarily pushing her panic aside, "Honey...you know how we said we wanted to be honest with each other?"

"Yes. I recall that quite clearly, Josephine."

She almost flinched at his tone, "Well, there's something that I've wanted to tell you and I didn't really know how to tell you or even if I was allowed to...Not to mention that I haven't even told my parents about this or anyone who isn't a part of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"S.H.I.E.L.D?" asked Alex.

"It's an organization that-"

"I know what it does," he said cooly, "Whenever someone gets too close to discovering something that could change the world, you guys step in and make sure that doesn't happen."

"That is not what S.H.I.E.L.D does," Jimmy said defensively, "We're a spy organization that focuses on making the world safer for everyone. And yes, that includes shutting down tech that is too dangerously volatile. Including, every now and then, alternative drilling methods that are bad for the planet and could cause catastrophic explosions, like the one your uncle was working on in Texas three years ago before we shut it down. We saved nearly three thousand lives when we did that, but I bet Uncle Ian didn't mention that part."

Alex's mouth snapped shut, but he still gave Jimmy a dirty look.

"Alex, I know you're angry. And you have every reason to be because I've been lying to you about what I really do when I go on 'business trips' and why I train so hard every day. There have been so many times that I thought I could tell you but then I thought the timing wasn't right and now this is probably the worst timing ever because I have to leave to who knows where."

"You're going to the Hellicarrier. They sent me to come get you and deliver you to the take off point. Cait, you're headed to base in New York. They've got you on standby in case anything goes south. In the mean time, you might want to help Joei draw up some statements for the press."

"The press? Why?" asked Joei.

"They're bringing in your team." said Jimmy, "And whatever this Loki of Asgard has in mind, he looks like a pretty flashy guy. I don't think he's going to keep a low profile."

"Fury's Assembling the Avengers?" Caitlin asked in awe, before her eyes widened and she turned to Joei, "You're going to have to tell your dad."

"Well, if the cat's coming out of the bag, I might as well let it scratch my eyes out."

"Girls, we need to move now," said Jimmy, looking down at his watch, "Grab your emergency bags and lets move. Cait, I'm sorry but you're going to have to drive yourself."

"Take my car, it's a hole lot safer and we can keep a direct line through FRIDAY." Joei said as Caitlin started making her way upstairs. Finally, she turned to Alex, taking a step towards him and putting a hand on each of his wrists, "Alex, I really am sorry that I didn't tell you anything before. I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D agent...well, a Junior Agent for now. I'm still in training. S.H.I.E.L.D is not a bad organization. We help people and we keep them safe and I want you to know that we would never just steal someone's research and hard work without good reason. When we get back, we can sit down and talk about this, okay? Right now this is a global emergency and I need to go."

"I'll think about it," Alex finally answered, then he turned on his heel, grabbed his keys and walked out.

Joei hardly had time to pinch the bridge or her nose before Caitlin was thrusting her emergency bag into her arms. Joei slung it behind her shoulder and stuffed her phone in her pocket. The flight to the hellicarrier was going to be too long.

* * *

 **It's the moment we've been building up to folks! The Avengers!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you agian to all the wonderful reviews. I love the feedback on the characters and the story especially.**

 **Disclaimer: All characters and story arcs belong to Marvel and Disney.**

* * *

May 2, 2012

A particularly bad case of turbulence woke Josephine from her nap. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, and the tablet she'd been reading has nearly slipped from her hand and onto the floor. Only a few hours ago, she'd made it to the Roswell Base and found herself in front of Agent Coulson, receiving the news of Barton's compromise and creating a plan of action.

"Dad doesn't trust Romanoff. If she goes to talk to him she won't even make it to the door."

"I'll go get him. Fury thinks she should be the one to go get Banner, anyway."

"Romanoff and Banner in the same room by themselves? Is that wise?" Joei had asked skeptically.

"The director seems to think so. Who knows what sort of things make him draw those type of conclusions."

"Where does that leave me?"

"On a Quinjet toward the East Coast. Go get some sleep in one of the bunks. One of them will be ready to take you tonight."

"A nap would do you some good, too, Coulson. Have you had any sleep? Or breakfast?"

He'd shook his head and insisted he was fine. "I need to get going if I want to reach Stark Tower in time."

At around 10 pm Pacific Time, she'd been lead to a remotely piloted Quinjet and an agent had shoved a tablet into her hand and told her to read through the files. Most of them were things she already knew about her potential team. Dad was in New York putting the final touches on Stark Tower, Steve was in Brooklyn, Banner was in Calcutta, and Natasha was on a mission in Russia. She was more worried about Barton's whereabouts, which were currently unknown, and his possible mental state. She knew brainwashing existed, of course, but it was usually known as a long process full of conditioning and trigger words. It could take days, or even weeks to break a civilian. What kind of power could this Loki character wield if he was able to completely brain wash Barton in less than two seconds?

After she had reread Fury's report for the third time, she opened a browser and began to search. If Thor of Asgard was a part of Norse Mythology, then Loki must be, too. She took most of the stories with a grain of salt, but character traits like selfishness and self-preservation stuck out in her mind. Loki was neither a bad guy nor a good guy. He allied himself with whomever would get him what he wanted.

She moved on the Tesseract. She'd read the information already, but that had been months ago, before she'd wanted to know what Loki was planning to do with it.

"FRIDAY, is anyone we know stationed at the Hellicarrier?"

"Twin brothers Carlos and Hector Torres are on board with their Superior Officer, running facial recognition."

"What about Jimmy?"

"Agent Fullerton has returned to the Library. He will be monitoring transportation from there."

"Thank you, Friday. Hey, is there any news on Alex? Any tweets, paparazzi spottings?"

"None so far, Miss Stark, but his parents are currently in New York for a Charity Auction."

"Thanks. One more thing, how long until I land?"

"You should reach your destination by 6:30 am, Miss Stark."

"Thank you, Friday, that will be all."

Joei looked down at the tablet in her hands again and opened the message icon.

 _Instructions upon landing:_ _All Agents must report to their living quarters where they will be provided with appropriate uniform and/or tactical gear for their assignment._ _An interactive map of the Hellicarrier may be found_ _here_ _._

 _*Special Instructions- Junior Agent Josephine Stark: Open package left in living quarters and subsequently report to the Bridge with package content_ _s_ _and appropriate uniform._

"Wake me when we land, Friday. I have a feeling there won't be a lot of time for power naps on the Hellicarrier."

"Yes, Miss Stark."

* * *

May 3rd, 2012

The living quarters were really just a tiny room with a small closet, a top bunk, and a desk, a mirror, and a chair placed underneath the bunk. Josephine slid the door shut behind her, putting her ID back in her pocket after she'd used it to open the door. On top of the desk was a notepad, some pens, and a black box with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo engraved on the top.

Josephine let her bag drop to the floor and placed the tablet on the desk. She picked up the box and shook it slightly, before shrugging and removing the lid.

A leather badge holder sat nestled in black sponge foam, next to a communication device. She took the leather square and flipped it open to reveal the silver S.H.I.E.L.D. badge and a new ID above it. It read Stark, Josephine; Title: Team Leader; Clearance Level 6.

With a proud smile, she dug through her backpack and pulled out her laptop, starting it up on the desk in front of her.

"Friday, do you think you could link to this comm?"

"Allow me one moment to find access, Miss Stark."

While Friday searched for an entrance to the communication device, Josephine went to the small closet. Everything was made of fire retardant material and had the S.H.I.E.L.D logo stamped somewhere on it except for the pants. She decided on a standard issue blue and black long sleeve shirt with a zip up the front and black pants. There were two pairs of shoes in the closet, but she decided on the black boots she used for training that were sitting in her bag. In a drawer at the bottom of the closet was a small collection of weapons and gear. Putting on a thigh holster, she checked the gun and put it in its slot.

"Communication device has been linked to my server, Miss Stark. Is there anything else I might do for you?"

"We're all set for now, Friday. I'll keep you updated through the comm."

Taking a quick look in the tiny mirror, she ran a hand through her hair and grabbed a hair tie from her bag, slipping it through her wrist. She put the comm on her ear, placed the new badge inside her pocket, and grabbed her tablet, deciding it was time to head to the bridge and get her team together.

Halfway there the screens along the corridors began to flash with the word TAKEOFF. She looked down at her tablet and saw the same word. Down the hall she could make out a window. She ran to it just in time to witness the massive aircraft carrier lift out of the water and rise into the air.

"Amazing, isn't it?" an agent beside her said. She looked young, perhaps in her mid-twenties, and her voice had the airy buzz of a French woman.

Joei nodded, "You don't think people might freak out a little when they see a giant metal boat in the sky, though?"

"That is why we 'ave retrorefleciton panels." the agent winked, pointing to a part of the Hellicarrier's back wing which was visible through the window just as hundreds of panels flipped to reflect the sky around them.

"That is insane."

The agent extended her hand.

"I am Agent Fontaine, by the way. I am one of the engineers in charge of keeping the Hellicarrier's maiden voyage." she said the word voyage the way it was said in French, making Joei feel considerably less classy, "If you 'ave any questions about it, or if I can help you with anything, I will be around."

Joei shook the offered hand but hesitated, "I'm...Agent 96."

"Ah, so you are one of those agents. Perhaps I won't see as much of you around as I 'oped."

Joei shrugged, "It's a small boat, Agent Fontaine. I'm sure we'll bump into each other soon enough."

Josephine continued on her way down the halls toward the control deck. In a crowd of people in blue and black uniforms, she felt less like she was being watched all the time and more like another member of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Agent Stark," Fury called as soon as she had entered the Bridge, killing in anonymity. She took a quick look around as she walked towards him, noticing Coulson and Steve were not too far. She tried her best to ignore Steve for now, but she could feel his eyes trained on her as she walked.

"Director." she nodded.

"I apologize for the quick promotion. Usually there would have been a whole ceremony and I would have given you the badge personally."

"I understand that the circumstances called for hastier actions, Director. No harm done. So, were are we with finding them?"

"Everyone on that side of the Bridge is working on tracking down the cube, Loki, and our brainwashed agents."

"And everyone on this side?"

"They're helping steer the boat."

"Ah."

"I believe your team should be getting ready to assemble soon." said Fury, stepping back to his command station and focusing on the screens in front of him. He added, almost as an afterthought, "Rogers has been asking for you."

"Great," Joei mumbled, then excused herself from the Director's presence. She turned to see Steve and Coulson looking more awkward than she had ever seen either of them, and had just about resigned herself to facing them when a skittish movement caught the corner of her eye.

"Dr. Banner," she smiled and spoke softly as she approached his spot near the conference table. He jumped slightly at the sound of his name, but his shoulders seemed to relax at the sight of a familiar face, "How was your flight?"

"I'm still a little shifty," he admitted, "A lot of turbulence. But it's nice to see you, Miss Stark. You're the only friendly face I've run into so far."

"Oh, but I heard Agent Romanoff was sent to retrieve you. She's usually so warm and friendly that you can't help but like her," Joei said innocently.

"Oh, is she?" Dr. Banner swallowed, "Maybe she was just nervous or..."

Joei laughed and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder, careful to move slowly so he wouldn't be surprised by the contact. The poor man was already jumpy enough, he needed to relax, "I'm joking, Dr. Banner. I know Romanoff can be a bit...intense."

"That she is. So, I'm supposed to find the cube. What are you up to, Miss Stark?"

"Oh, I'm just the babysitter," Joei waved a hand nonchalantly. Dr. Banner looked confused, but didn't say anything.

"Have you met Captain Rogers?" he asked, "We bumped into each other right before takeoff and Agent Romanoff brought us here."

"Yeah, we already know each other." Joei mumbled, trying to keep her back to where Steve was.

"Is that why he's looking at you like you killed his cat?"

"Is he, really? I've been afraid to look at his face so far. Our relationship is unstable at best. Which we'll probably have to deal with soon since I'm supposed to be working with him."

"And here I was hoping you'd be in the lab with me," said Banner, "I could use a competent hand."

"Well, about that..."

"What?"

"You know how you've been avoiding my father for the past few years?"

"He's here, isn't he?"

"Not yet but...he is a consultant and Starkonium was being used to harness the Tesseract's power so...I figured I should warn you. He likes playing with pointy things."

"I can handle pointy things. Excitement, not so much."

"You're more than welcome to tell him to shut up any time you like."

"I will take you up on that offer if necessary."

"Captain!" Fury called out as he made his way toward the conference table, "If you could please join us."

Joei swallowed and blinked slowly. Dr. Banner gave her a sympathetic smile as she turned around.

"Gentleman, Agent Stark, welcome aboard."

Before Fury could say much more, Steve took his wallet out and handed him a bill, to which Fury only smiled. Dr. Banner and Joei shared a confused look before focusing on the Director once more. Steve looked quickly at Josephine and walked back toward the windows at the front of the bridge.

Josephine's eyes darted between the Scientist and the Captain, but her mind was made up for her when Fury approached Banner and shook his hand. With a slight shake of her head, she followed Steve and stood beside him as he stared out the window.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Joei counted the seconds of silence that stretched between them. When she got to twelve, she had to make it stop.

"Can we stop staring out the windows? I'm getting air sick."

Steve let out a breath of laughter and turned to look at her, "Always ready with the witty comments."

"It's a family trait."

"So I've heard."

"My dad's coming on this mission."

"Does he know yet?"

"Nope. And I have no idea how I'm going to tell him. Do I just wait in the lab for him to walk in and say 'Hey, Dad, guess what? I went against your wishes to keep me out of danger and became a super spy?'"

"That sounds complicated." said Steve, making his way back toward the computers that were set to track down Loki and his team.

"It is. Very."

"We're sweeping every wireless accessible camera on the planet," Coulson was saying, "Cellphones, laptops, if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

Romanoff approached one of the computers focusing on Barton, and the knot that had taken permanent residence in her chest since she'd left her apartment tightened.

"That's still not going to find them in time," said Romanoff. She didn't say in time for what, but Joei knew enough about mind control to know that they wouldn't find them in time before the brainwashing became so ingrained into Barton's brain that it would be a lot more difficult to get rid of it, and some of his conditioning might never go away completely.

"You have to narrow your field," said Banner, "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there?" asked Fury.

"Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places."

Fury nodded, looking impressed, and turned to Coulson who seemed to understand immediately. Before he walked off, he placed a hand on Joei's forearm and smiled.

"Congratulations, Agent Stark."

"Thank you, Agent Coulson," Joei smiled proudly, "For everything."

"I'll see you later. We can celebrate over lunch."

"Sound good," she nodded.

"Agent Romanoff, could you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?"

Dr. Banner got that uneasy look again, and Joei stepped forward, "I can do it, if you want. I was going to head that way anyway."

"Actually there are a few agents I still want you to meet, Agent Stark. Romanoff, show Dr. Banner to the lab."

Joei gave Dr. Banner a 'Sorry-I-Tried' shrug, who shrugged back and followed Agent Romanoff out of the Bridge. Fury led Josephine up the stairs to the top section of the Bridge, where more computers lined the round room.

"Agent Stark, meet our tracking team. This is Agent Alfonso Cruz, he's the team's Superior Officer," Fury pointed to a middle aged man with a rather large mustache, "And his second-in-command Agent Tia Noguchi. Agent Kayla Andrews, and I believe you've met Agents Hector and Carlos Torres."

"I have," Joei smiled at the boys, who looked a lot more serious and professional than she ever saw them at the Academy with their blue S.H.I.E.L.D uniforms and IDs pinned to their chests. "So, besides seeing into every wireless device out there and completely invading people's privacy, what else have you guys been up to?"

"Ignore her," Hector said quickly to his teammates.

"We figure that if Loki is planning somehting big, he's going to need more people to help him."

"It was Kayla's idea, actually."

"And it was absolutely brilliant."

"So we've started compiling a list of mercenaries that Barton might know-"

"-which is not easy considering almost everything he does requires a Level 7 or higher clearance-"

"-but we've narrowed it down to a bout ten guys who would totally be down for an alien invasion-"

"-and-"

"Guys!" Joei snapped, "You're doing it again with the sentence finishing and I don't need an even bigger headache."

"Sorry," both twins said.

"Anyway," said Hector, receiving a nod from his brother to continue the conversation, "We've narrowed it down to about ten guys, and so far six of them have started traveling East, so for now we are staying above the Atlantic."

"If we can get those six in the same spot, we'll be able to narrow down our field of where Loki, Barton, and Selvig might be." said Agent Noguchi.

"We tried tracking Barton, but it was impossible. His trail disappeared before he even left New Mexico." said Andrews.

"If there's one thing Barton knows how to do, it's be sneaky. You'll never find him unless he wants you to find him. Following the mercs is our best bet. At least until they catch up to Barton, after that they'll probably disappear, too. In the mean time, I'm going to look for a way to make myself useful since I can't follow my S.O. around like I usually do."

"Hey," said Hector when the rest of the team had gone back to their work, "We're going to find him, Joei."

"Yeah," said Carlos, "Cruz is the best of the best at this stuff. He's got us working around the clock. They won't be able to walk into a gas station bathroom without us finding out. Barton will be making you do extra push ups before you know it."

"Thanks guys. Speaking of, I think I'm going to go let off some steam and try to think of a way to tell my father that I've been lying to him for three years."

"Josephine Stark, voluntarily exercising?"

"Who even are you these days?"

"Oh, shut up, and work on your algorithm. I'll see you guys later. Text me if anything new happens."

The Hellicarrier was equipped with a full gym that could easily house fifty people at a time. There was a group of nine agents in a corner, practicing their fighting on the mats. One agent was running on a treadmill and she could make out another through the bulletproof glass of the small shooting range. A few of the agents had switched out their uniforms for workout gear, but Josephine kept her boots on. What was the point of training so hard if she was going to end up messing up because she wore different shoes on a mission?

After a quick stretching session, she walked over to the bars and began to do pull ups. She still hated pulls ups and push ups, but she was determined to develop her upper body strength and she needed something to focus and hopefully organize the rest of her thoughts.

An hour later, she was on her fortieth sit up when FRIDAY's voice in her ear startled her. She'd all but forgotten about the comm, but she was no where closer to finding the right words to say to her dad.

"Miss Stark, there's been a hit on Loki."

"I'm on my way."

She hastily threw on the jacket she'd been wearing above her tanktop and readjusted the gun holster on her thigh. A couple agents stared at her, but the rest paid her no mind as she rushed out the gym with a towel against her neck.

"Wow, that must have been some workout," said Hector when she arrived at the bridge once more.

"Yeah, you stink." Carlos added.

Joei rolled her eyes but blushed none the less. She wasn't really that sweaty, was she?

"You smell fine," Steve mumbled behind her. It made the fine hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end.

"What have we got?"

"One hundred percent match," said Agent Sitwell, "Stuttgard, Germany. He's not exactly hiding."

Joei turned to Steve with her hands on her hips, "Time to suit up, Captain."

"Agent Stark," said Fury.

"Yes, sir?"

"If Loki is out and about, Barton and the others won't be far behind. Romanoff and Rogers will take a quinjet out to meet Loki. In the mean time, you'll be on a separate quinjet on standby in case things go south or we find another one of Loki's henchmen."

"Yes, sir."

"Take a Torres with you, and Agent Sitwell."

"Yes, sir." she said, turning to the twins, "Carlos, since you seem to think I smell, you get to enjoy the lovely aroma of getting left behind. Hector, you're with me. Captain, I think now would be a good time to suit up."

Josephine waited with baited breath in the copilot seat of the quinjet, her eyes scanning the sky.

"I don't see anything."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"I don't know. Maybe." she lifted a hand to her comm, "Romanoff, how are things on your side?"

"We're almost there. Loki broke into a gala and seems to have caused a panic. Captain will be making the jump in ten."

"FRIDAY, give me a live feed off Romanoff's quinjet's cameras."

"Yes, Miss Stark."

"I've got something!" said Hector.

"What?"

"There was a security breach in a facility belonging to Schafer Sicherheitsdienst."

"Translation, Friday?"

"Schafer security, Miss Stark."

"Found out what they stole, Agent Torres." said Sitwell, "We're heading there now. Romanoff, you good on that end?"

Before Romanoff could answer, the opening lines of Shoot to Thrill echoed through the comms.

"Looks like we are now," said Romanoff, and Joei could practically hear the smirk as she turned off her own comm. She did not need her father to realize who was on the other end of the call.

"Hey, Agent Romanoff, you miss me?" her dad's voice sounded. Joei rolled her eyes but focused her attention on their new destination.

"Security clearance was just granted for someone called Dr. Heinric Schafer." said Hector, "I've got my team finding out his specialty and what he could be keeping there."

"We're not going to make it in time." Joei realized.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because ETA is four minutes and I'm absolutely certain that Barton will be out of there in three. It's his most basic rule. If you're going to steal something, make sure you can get out faster than you got in."

Agent Romanoff's voice rang through the quinjet, "Loki has surrendered. He's about to be escorted onto the quinjet and then we're headed back to the base."

"We'll try to catch Barton," said Sitwell, "But I think St...aahh" Joei had elbowed Sitwell in the ribs before he could unwantedly reveal her identity once again, "I think Agent 96 is right. He'll be out of there before we can lift our guns."

"Even so, I have no intention of shooting him, Sitwell. He's still a S.H.I.E.L.D agent."

By the time they reached the security lab, the only sign of a break in was a paramedic vehicle loading two unconscious security guards onto gurnies.

"Let's see if we can find out what they stole, shall we?"

"Already did," said Hector, "Iridium. It's a very dense and very rare metal. It makes anti-protons and forms in meteorites."

"Does that mean anything to anybody on this plane? What could he use it for?"

"I have no clue, I just got the description off wikipedia." said Hector.

"Nice. Well, we'll have to get that information back to Dr. Banner and my Dad," Joei groaned slightly, "Now that he's headed toward the Hellicarrier I don't think I could put this off any longer."

Joei pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and noticed two text messages.

The first was from Alex.

 _Can you at least tell me if you're safe?"_

She smiled wryly and replied, _Safer than Hogwarts._

 _Don't try to use a Harry Potter reference to soften me up. I'm still mad at you._

She smiled a little more at his immediate reply and then opened the text from Romanoff.

 _So far your team consists of red a blue clad first graders fighting over a crayon. Good luck with your dad._

Any hint of a smile disappeared.

 _Don't remind me._

Romanoff's reply came in through the Quinjet's comms.

"We've been made. Loki has been removed from the quinjet by Thor. I repeat. Loki has been removed from the quinjet by Thor. Captain America and Iron Man are in pursuit."

"Captain America can't fly."

"But he sure knows how to jump." replied Natasha.

"He jumped off the plane?!"

"He had a parachute."

"Fury says we're to report back to the Hellicarrier and let the Avengers take care of the Asgardians," said Sitwell.

Joei bit her lip, thoughts moving fast, "FRIDAY, is there any way I could get information or a live feed from the suit without dad finding out?"

"Perhaps not a live feed, Miss Stark, but I can pull up information on his vitals and suit capacity."

"Give me the deets."

"Vitals are all within a normalized range. No acute physical damage. Suit capacity is at 420%."

"What? How did that happen?"

"I believe a shot of lightening from an alien hammer was involved."

"I see. You know what? Put in a voice call."

The phone rang twice before Tony answered, sounding very short of breath.

"Hey, kid, what's going on?"

"Oh, just driving around town, as one does. How about you?"

"Oh, just fighting with a very big blonde demigod, as one does."

"Now there's something I would pay to see. Too bad I forgot my laptop."

"Hey, honey, I'm going to have to call you back. Captain Party Pooper just showed up. Love you gotta go bye." the last sentence was said almost as one word before he abruptly hung up.

"Well, at least they havne't killed each other yet."

Five minuted later, Joei's cell phone rang with a message from Natasha.

 _They're back on the quinjet. I'll slow us down to give you some time to hide before your dad gets on the Hellicarrier._

Joei let out a sigh of relief. _You are a goddess in your own right, Agent Romanoff._


	4. Chapter 4

**HELLO EVERYBODYYYYYY. I know I disappeared for a ridiculously long time and I am terribly sorry but I had the biggest exam of my life and spent all my free time in the last few months studying.**

 **Also, I watched Infinity War last night and I could not hold off writing anymore. It changed so much of what I was planning for Joei's future and I can't wait to keep this story going. Without further ado, here is Chapter 4.**

* * *

 **March 4, 2012**

Joei stood in the rafters above the containment unit originally built for the Hulk as Loki tried to intimidate Fury and the rest of the team. From her place, she knew there was no way anyone could see her, not even through the cameras.

When Fury left the containment chamber, Josephine turned around and left as well, meeting with the director a few feet down the hall.

"Agent Stark, I need you and Dr. Garner to figure out how Loki's brainwashing works. We need Selvig and Barton back on our side. I have a feeling our prisoner isn't done showing off his parlor tricks."

"Yes, sir. I'll get in contact with Professor Garner and we'll get to work right away. What about my team?"

"Coulson and Romanoff can deal with them for a few hours."

"Yes, sir."

Josephine sighed in relief as the director took a left turn and she turned back toward the direction of her room. The Avengers could figure out their plan on their own for now. It was late, and the sun would be coming up soon, but there was no time to sleep.

* * *

A knock on the door of her bunk startled Josephine hours later. She had spent the last few hours working back and forth with Dr. Garner, trying to figure out how the brainwashing from Loki's scepter worked and what the safest way to get Barton and the others out of it was. She had almost fallen asleep with her head propped against her fist. She stretched her arms above her head and leaned over to pull the door open.

"What's this?" she said to the folder Coulson handed her wordlessly.

"Notes on your first team meeting." said Coulson, "You know I'm not entirely sure but I think that to lead a team you're actually supposed to talk to them."

"I know, I know," she waved a hand as she leaned back in the swivel chair and red through the notes, "But Fury gave me some extra work to do and it's not like they weren't going to figure out Loki's plan on their own."

"Is that it? Or are you trying to avoid the confrontation that has been coming for the past three years?"

"Yeah, that, too." mumbled Joei.

"You have to do it, Josephine. Besides, I'm sure Tony is a pretty forgiving guy. He's got a bigger heart than most people think."

"I'm sure he'd be flattered that you think so," Joei smiled, "How about I read this and once I actually understand what is going on I will jump down to the lab and see what Banner is working on? I should report to Fury soon, too. Professor Garner and I might have figured out how to fix Barton and the others."

"Good plan," said Coulson, patting her on the shoulder, "I'll see you later."

* * *

An hour later Joei had smoothed down her hair for the fourth time and had finally run out of excuses. She would start by looking for Steve, she decided, and leave the lab for last. Knowing her dad, that was exactly where he would be.

She found Steve walking down the hallway.

"Hey," she caught up to him and put a hand on his arm, "I hear you've met my dad."

"Yeah," Steve nodded, "He's...um..."

"You hate him."

"That's ridiculous, I hardly know him."

"That's not a denial, Captain," said Joei, bumping her shoulder with his.

A familiar sigh of disappointment reached Joei's ears and she looked up at Steve as he picked up the pace of his walk.

"What?"

"Why am I suddenly Captain now? What happened to Steve?"

"You're the one who said we should act like nothing ever happened. That includes us reaching a level of familiarity strong enough to use first names."

"So what am I supposed to call you, then? Agent 96?"

"If you wish to." said Joei, trying to hide the sting of the way he said her codename.

"I don't wish."

"Then what do want from me, Rogers?" she threw up her hands and walked even faster. He caught up easily with his longer strides. Her walking was messy and her arms flailed at her sides, but his strength and height allowed him to walk like a soldier. It probably didn't help that she was suddenly very, very angry at him.

"It would be nice if for starters I didn't have both members of the Stark family looking at me like I'm a disease."

"Excuse me, you're the one who looked at me, and I quote 'Like I killed his cat' the second I walked onto this damn boat."

"HEY!"

Joei's eyes went wide with rage and her nostrils flared when Steve yelled, but then her expression turned to one of dread when she realized it wasn't her whom he was yelling at.

Steve had been leading her to the labs the entire time, and she'd been so angry she hadn't even realized that they had stopped right outside Banner's lab. She didn't know what had made Steve yell at Banner or her Dad (probably her dad), but she immediately dropped her head and spun on her heal in an attempt to walk away from the door.

"Josephine Margaret Stark you get back inside this lab immediately."

She gulped at the sound of her dad's voice, which to the outside observer was completely casual. With shaky hands she stepped through the door, careful not to look at her father.

"Are you nuts?" Steve directed the question at Tony.

"Jury's out," Tony said quickly before turning to Banner, "You really have got a lid on that, don't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"

Banner smiled and it was perhaps the most relaxed facial expression Joei had seen on the man ever.

"Is everything a joke to you?"

"Funny things are. You know what's not funny though? This," said Tony, motioning between Steve and Joei with the stick in his hand, "Why are you walking down the halls of Danger Inc. with my daughter, Captain?"

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny," said Steve.

"Hey, that's rude," said Joei, noticing that Banner's face had taken on that same tight smile again.

"It's okay, I wouldn't have come on board if I couldn't handle pointy things." said Banner.

"You know who shouldn't have come on board?" said Tony, pointing at Joei and her attire, "You. You need to go take that off."

"I can't take it off."

"Reason?"

"I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D agent."

"No you're not."'

"Yes I am. I've been a part of this for three years."

"I'm sorry, three years?" Tony crossed his arms, "As in Fury allowed a minor to join a secret spy organization without consent of a parent of guardian?"

Joei groaned, "Well, actually...he did get consent just...not...from you."

"Not from...then who?" realizations dawned on Tony's face and he looked positively enraged, "Your aunt and I are going to have a very serious conversation when this is over. In the mean time, I'm getting you a jet back to New York. You can't stay here."

"No.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no." said Joei, "This is my job and you are not the boss of me here. Actually, here, I'm the boss of you."

" _Excuse me?"_ Tony repeated, sounding thoroughly offended.

"She's the leader on this mission and the Avengers' Handler." Steve offered.

"I'm not an Avenger," Tony pointed out, "And you need to stay out of family arguments, Captain."

"And _you_ need to focus on the problem at hand, Mr. Stark." said Steve sternly.

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before?"

"None of us were ready." said Joei, "Banner was missing. You were recuperating. Steve was assimilating to this century and I wasn't done with my training."

"I'm pretty sure you knew where Banner was this whole time, I've been healthy for months, Fury isn't big on pop culture either, and you couldn't even hide from me which makes me think that your training is far from finished, young lady. And so it will remain even if I have to drag you off this ship and lock you at the top of Stark Tower for the rest of your life."

Joei rolled her eyes.

"Don't you dare give me attitude right now. And don't try to act like you know everything there is to know about S.H.I.E.L.D. Why did Fury call us in now? What isn't he telling us? And why bring you in as Handler to a group of people with special powers and a fancy suit when you have neither of those things? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation without all the variables."

Steve's face remained tense, but Joei could tell that these questions had planted a seed of doubt. She ignored the pang in her chest at the question about her eligibility to run this team.

"You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy."

"He's _the_ spy," Joei added.

"His secrets have secrets." said Tony, tossing a handful of what looked like berries into his mouth, "It's bugging him, too isn't it?"

Banner looked like he really did not want to participate in this conversation, "Ah, I just want to finish my work here and..."

"Doctor?" said Steve.

Banner shook his head and removed his glasses, "A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"What about it?"

"I think that was meant for you," said Banner, pointing at Tony, "Well, both of you, I guess."

Tony silently offered Banner a berry and Joei had to smile.

"Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the Tower it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big ugly-"

"Finish that sentence, _Steve_ ," Joei said with as much malice as she could manage, "My mom designed that Tower."

"And it's powered by an arc reactor, a self sustaining energy source."

"I'm aware of that," said Joei, "I think most of us in this room are. What's your point?"

"Our name is the only big name in clean energy right now," said Tony, "That's what he's getting at."

"So why not bring them in on their work with the Tesseract? What are they even doing in the energy business in the first place? Unless you were a part of it, Miss Stark, it doesn't make sense to me."

Joei shook her head, "I visited the site once but Fury insisted that they weren't planning on using it for anything yet, not until they understood it further. Clearly they must have been doing something other than observation if Loki was able to find it and open a portal."

"We should be able to figure that all out once my encryption program finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secured files."

Steve's face turned back into the face of disappointed anger. Joei groaned and put a hand to her face.

"Just once can you go into someone's house without breaking into their computers?"

"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge," said Tony, approaching Steve. "In a few hours I'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?"

"Yet you're confused about why they don't want you around."

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up." said Steve, "This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them."

"Following is not really my style."

"And you're all about style, aren't you, Stark?"

"I'm sorry, of the people in this room, which one is A. Wearing a spangly outfit and B. Not of use?"

"Okay, that is enough." said Joei, standing between the two men, "I'm starting to see why Fury put me on this team. You're all a bunch of ego-ridden maniacs. Dad, you need to focus on finding the cube and we can worry about S.H.I.E.L.D's dirty laundry after we have saved the world from destruction and subjugation. Steve, you can't tell me that none of the points they make aren't good. Something is going on and Dad and Dr. Banner are right in thinking that we should know about it. I'm more than willing to save the world, but if I have to go to war I at least want to know why I'm fighting in it. As a soldier, I'm sure you understand that."

Steve looked between the three of them, jaw clenching, "Just find the cube."

Joei relaxed against the edge of the table, both hands running through her hair. Tony came to stand in front of her.

"I hope you know that there will be no fighting of any kind on your part."

"Too late. I've trained and I've studied and I've worked hard for this. Syracuse was a cover up for S.H.I.E.L.D's private Academy and I'm studying psychology at Culver so that I can get better at the whole understanding people thing. You can't stop me from doing this."

"I can and I will." said Tony feverently.

"How, Dad? How? Are you going to try to lock me in the tower because you seem to have forgotten that I know how to reprogram all of your AIs and most of your tech. And I know how to escape from just about every kind of building on the planet.

"Or were you planning on cutting me off so I can't go to school anymore? Because S.H.I.E.L.D can pay for that, and I'm sure they pay me and Caitlin enough combined to get an apartment together and go live somewhere else."

"Caitlin? Caitlin is in on this?"

From the corner of her eyes, Joei could tell that Dr. Banner was trying very hard to look busy.

"Caitlin is an agent, Dad. She was sent to watch my back and be my partner on a few missions. Right now she's in New York running clean up. Jimmy is in Willowdale on transportation watch. The twins are upstairs running facial recognition and my Superior Officer who has taught me how to fight and lie and shoot a weapon and keep my cool during an alien invasion is currently in the mental clutches of said alien and I will be damned if I walk away from this without getting him back to his friends and his job and his right mind.

"So you can argue all that you want with me, but I am not leaving this ship and I am not leaving this organization because if I can do my part to save all those people, you bet that I am going to do it even if I have to spend the rest of my life with you and Alex and even Steve mad at me."

Tony shook his head once more and spoke in a low voice that only infuriated Joei more, "You're not doing this."

"I am. Deal with it."

With that she turned on her heal and left the room, making her way back to the bridge.

Coulson was showing something to Thor at one of the computers. Romanoff was back to staring at the screens tracking Barton and Loki, and Josephine joined her.

"Hey."

"Hey back," said the redhead, "I take it you talked to your father?"

"Yep."

"How'd it go?"

"I basically told him he could disown me and I still wouldn't leave S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I bet he took that nicely," Natasha smirked. "He'll come around."

"Yeah. We're going to find Barton, Agent Romanoff."

"I know we will."

"Agent Stark, what have you got for me?" Fury asked, approaching the two of them.

"Dr. Garner and I have gone through as much information as we could. We predict that pulling Barton and the others out of their hypnosis won't put them in danger..."

"Hypnosis?" asked Natasha.

"That's the closest way to describe it. Brain washing requires hours upon hours of conditioning. It usually involves creating fear or other adverse feelings against a person or an image to convince them that said image or person is an enemy. Hypnotists, on the other hand, somehow put all conscious thought to sleep with a short and quick trigger that can be turned off just as quickly. We think that Barton is subconsciously present but can't control his actions."

"So he knows what he's doing he just can't stop doing it?" asked Natasha.

"Yes."

"And how do we turn it off."

"In theory, cerebral recalibration would work. Like hitting a reset button, except you're going to hit Barton. Really hard. In the head."

"And that will wake him back up?"

"We believe so."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Then we tie him up and find another method to reset his brain. Our last alternative would be to stop brain activity and then restart it."

"You mean kill him and then hope you can revive him in time?"

"It's our last option." Josephine assured, "There are still other methods that have a chance of being successful."

"Let's it doesn't come down to a last resort. In the mean time, I have a job for you, Agent Romanoff. Stark, I'd like you to observe Romanoff on this assignment."

* * *

Josephine hid in the rafters once more as Agent Romanoff worked Loki's mind to find out his plan. She watched in admiration as Natasha made Loki believe he had the upper hand.

"Agent Stark," Fury's voice broke through her communications device as Loki began to threaten and taunt Natasha, "Report to the lab. I've got a virus sifting through my private server that you just might now something about."

Josephine fought the urge to curse under her breath, knowing that she could be found out if she made a sound. She tiptoed away and began the walk toward the lab. She was halfway there when Romanoff's voice echoed in her ear, too.

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well."

"No offense to you, Agent Romanoff, but I don't think you and Thor will be the best at keeping Dr. Banner calm and human-sized."

"It's about time we sort out this mess," said Fury, "Rounding up your team in the lab doesn't sound like a bad idea, Stark."

"Yes, sir," Joei said, trying not to sound dejected as she put out another call, "Rogers?"

"On my way," was Steve's short reply.

Josephine entered the lab at the same time as Nick Fury.

"What do you think you're doing, Mr Stark?"

"I've kind of been wondering the same thing about you." answered Tony from his spot above one of the work tables.

"You're supposed to be locating the tesseract."

"We are," answered Banner, "The model's locked and we're searching for it now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"You're going to get your cube back," said Tony, "No muss, no fuss. What is Phase Two?"

A thump on one of the tables startled Josephine and she turned to find Steve slamming a complicated looking gun down on the table.

"Phase Two is S.H.I.E.L.D uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, but your computer was moving a little slow for me."

"And that is why I didn't say anything about the virus," said Josephine, turning toward Fury, "You said you weren't going to use the cube until you understood it. If you're going to put my team in the middle of a war I at least want to know why we're fighting it, Director."

"Stark, Rogers, we gathered everything that had to do with the Tesseract. This does not mean that..."

"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony called out, "What were you lying?"

Tony had turned the screen in their direction, which was taken up by images of schematics on new Tesseract powered weapons.

"I was wrong, Director," said Steve, as Romanoff and Thor walked in, "The world hasn't changed a bit."

"Did you know about this?" Banner directed the question at Natasha.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from the situation, Dr. Banner?"

Joei closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Romanoff was excellent at using other people's feelings against them, but why Fury thought she was equipped to deal with Dr. Banner and the Hulk was beyond her. From a psychologist's point of view, Romanoff was the least soothing person the doctor could possibly interact with.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"We believe Loki is manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what, exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I batted my eyelashes at you," said Agent Romanoff, taking a few steps closer to Banner.

Banner was careful in his movements as he stepped to the side, approaching a screen while at the same time getting away form the subject of his irritation, "Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Yes, I think we're all wondering the same thing." said Josephine.

"Were you not at Roswell in February 2010, Agent 96?" Fury snapped, pointing at Thor, "It's because of him."

"Me?"

Joei ran a hand through her hair and leaned against a desk next to her father.

"The earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." assured Thor.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" asked Joei, thinking back to the day that Fury had announced S.H.I.E.L.D's new alien-defense angle. "But I thought S.H.I.E.L.D was about protecting people, not about who has the bigger stick."

"And you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people who can't be matched. That can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?"

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?"

"You forced our hand," said Fury. "We had to come up with-"

Joei caught Tony's eye and read the expression in them quickly enough. For years Tony had reaped the benefits of war. If anyone knew how wars got started, it was him. If anybody knew the blame that each side deserved, it was him.

"A nuclear deterrent." Tony interrupted. "Cause that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark."

"Hey!" Josephine warned.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons Stark would be neck deep in..."

"Excuse you!"

"Wait, hold on, how is this about me?"

"I'm sorry isn't everything?"

"You want to think before you speak, Rogers?" Joei threatened.

"Oh, so now I'm the one who's being irrational?" Steve countered.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," said Thor.

"I'm sorry, who landed in a crater and started blowing shit up? Oh yeah, you!"

"You treat your champions with such distrust," Thor said, directing his words toward Fury.

"Are you really that naive?" asked Romanoff, "S.H.I.E.L.D monitors potential threats."

"Captain America is on threat watch?" Dr. Banner scoffed.

"You all are," Joei answered, "It's why the World Security Council thinks this won't work."

Tony said something at the same time that Josephine didn't quite catch, but Steve's answer was enough for her to catch the gist of it.

"Stark, if you make one more smart remark I swear..."

"Verbal threat! I feel threatened."

"Really, Dad, will you stop this?"

"I'm sorry, _boss_ , I didn't think being part of your team meant having to keep my mouth shut. Then again that is how things seem to work around here, isn't it?"

"We have more important things to worry about than the damage it does to your ego when you don't know everything!" Joei instantly felt bad, but the words had slipped out so easily that it felt like they were coming from someone else.

"I'm sorry, weren't you just saying that you would like to at least know what we're fighting for?" Banner said.

"Yes, and now we know and while I'm not saying I approve, it is a step higher than having Loki bring an army of aliens to take over the planet, don't you think? Or would you rather have to turn into your giant alter-ego and rip them all in half by yourself?" calming words be damned. Why she had agreed to lead this team was beyond her.

"What? You think we can't help?" asked Tony.

"Not like this, you can't!"

"You speak of control and yet you create chaos," said Thor.

"That's his M.O. isn't it? I mean what are we? A team? We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos," said Banner, "We're a time bomb."

"You need to step away." said Fury.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"

"You know damn well why, now back off?"

"Oh, I'm starting to make you want to make me."

Joei rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She knew the relationship between her father and Captain America would be a complicated one, but she'd hoped they would at least try to play nice.

"Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius. Billionare, Playboy. Philanthropist."

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself."

"Captain," Joei warned, but a quick, almost imperceptible shake of Tony's head stopped her. She knew that the next words out of Steve's mouth would be wrong, but she also knew that part of her dad would believe them.

"You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play. To lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I'd just cut the wire."

"Always a way out. You know you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers, everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"That's enough," said Josephine, stepping between the two men. "You were both brought here for a reason but need I remind you that neither one of you passed the evaluation to qualify for this team which means I can send you home whenever I want. We are here to stop an alien invasion from happening, not so you can have a pissing contest. If either one of you has a problem with that, you can leave, and I'll put on your suit and do the job myself."

"That's not a bad idea, Stark," said Steve, still looking at Tony over Joei's head, "Why don't you put on the suit, we'll go a few rounds."

"Seriously, Steve?" said Joei, putting a hand on each man's chest.

Thor's laugh echoed through the lab, "You people are so petty. And tiny."

"Says the guy who knocked out a team of doctors because 'They dared touch the son of Odin'."

"Yeah, this is a team," said Dr. Banner in an irritated voice.

"Agent Romanoff, will you escort Dr. Banner..."

"Where? You rented my room remember?"

"I really don't think Romanoff-"

"The containment unit was just in case-"

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't, I know, I've tried."

The room became extremely still and quiet.

"I got low. I didn't see a way out so I put a bullet in my mouth and the Other Guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people, I was good. Until you three," he pointed at Josephine, Fury, and Romanoff, "Dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff, you want to know how I stay calm?"

"Dr. Banner," Joei said as firmly as she could manage with her voice still shaking in anger, "Put down the scepter."

The man looked down at his own hand in surprise. He clearly hadn't noticed himself grab it, nor had he noticed that Fury and Romanoff's hands had gone to grab their guns.

The computer made a ringing noise then, indicating that the cube had been found.

"We got it."

"Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." said Banner, moving toward the other side of the room.

Romanoff made to follow him, but Josephine shook her head and held up a hand, "You're not helping him."

"I could get there faster."

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No one will be retrieving it but me."

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP?!" Joei screamed at the top of her lungs, "None of you get to make that decision! Actually from now on none of you makes any decision unless I say you can! Dr. Banner!"

"Yes?" the Doctor answered in what was perhaps the calmest voice he had used during their entire "team meeting."

"Where is the cube?" Joei asked in a much quieter voice.

"It's...oh my god."

Josephine followed Dr. Banner's eyes. Above them, she could make out a small aircraft.

"What the-"

The floor shook and she was blasted back, her hands gripping at the shirts of the two men who were still on either side of her as they were thrown back.

"Put on the suit!" she yelled at her father, scrambling to get up. The two of them only made it harder by pulling her in different directions as they tried to help her, "Let go, dammit! Go get changed!"

Joei scrambled to get her comm device back into her ear, as it had come loose. Hill was yelling into her own comm.

"Somebody needs to get outside and patch that engine."

"Stark, you copy?"

"I'm on it."

"Coulson, initiate defensive lockdown. Romanoff?"

"We're okay."

"Agent Stark, track down Barton."

"Sir, if it comes down to facing him in a fight, I'll lose."

"Get a head start," said Romanoff, "I'll catch up."

"Got it."

Josephine gave the gun at her thigh a reassuring pat, hesitated slightly, and decided to hold it ready instead. She hoped she wouldn't have to use it.


	5. Chapter 5

Josephine continued her walk through the Hellicarrier on light feet, gun still raised in her hand and no idea where she should go.

"Jo?" Hector's voice came in through her comms.

"Hey, you got anything for me?"

"Barton is in the south wing. He's heading north pretty quick. If you take the next two rights at a run you'll have time to intercept him."

"Clear everyone out of the area." she instructed, breaking into a run.

She willed her mind to move as fast as her feet. Romanoff was unreachable, presumably running from the Hulk. By the time she could reach the south wing it would be too late. Josephine's fighting had improved, but Barton had taught her everything she knew. He would know her every move in a fight and she'd be down in seconds if he wanted.

"Stop there," Carlos' voice interrupted her thoughts. "He'll be turning the corner in about ten seconds."

Josephine made a split decision and put her gun back into its holster. She turned off the bluetooth device in her ear and placed it in her pocket. Her Superior Officer turned the corner, walking fast towards his destination and spotting her instantly.

"Move."

"What if I don't want to move?" Joei said, hands going to her hips as she stared hard into unfamiliar bright blue eyes.

"I'll kill you."

Joei smiled at the nearly imperceptible flash of green, "Ah, so you are still in there, Agent Barton."

"Move." He repeated, fingers inching toward the gun at his side.

"Okay," Joei nodded, stepping even closer. A voice in her head told her to run the other way, but she knew this was the only way to catch him now. "Like this?"

"Josephine, if you do not move away now and let me through..."

"You'll kill me, yeah I heard you the first time," she answered, taking another step closer and raising her hands above her shoulders, "So do it. Pull out your gun and shoot me in the heart. I'm close enough and I'm unarmed. By the time my hand reaches my gun you'll have already shot me, right?"

"Move."

"No. Shoot me."

"I will."

"Will you? You only have three friends, Barton, are you sure you want kill one of them?"

Barton blinked for a second too long, unnecessarily looking down at his gun as he pulled it out. Joei saw her chance and reacted quickly, her left hand going to his waist and her right going to his head and pushing hard. He fell off balance and his head made a satisfying bang against the rails on his right.

"Ah! Wha...Stark?" he gasped, hands holding his head and eyes blinking hard as they flickered between electric blue and soft green.

She whipped out her gun and knocked him out with the end of it for good measure.

Satisfied that he was thoroughly knocked out, she placed the comms back into her ear and spoke, "Director, I've got Barton."

"Did you knock him out?"

"Yes."

"How the hell did you manage that?" Coulson's awed voice came through.

"I pretended to let him shoot me. What now?"

Fury opened communications with the rest of the Avengers, "There's a group on their way to get Barton. Rogers and Stark are fixing the engines. I need all able hands to get to Loki and make sure he doesn't escape."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh no you don't," Tony's voice came through her ear, "You are not going anywhere near the crazy alien."

"FRIDAY, disable communications with the Iron Man suit."

"Yes, Miss Stark."

"Coulson, where are you?"

"Headed to the containment module."

"I'm right behind you."

"I need eyes on top, subdue anyone who tries to go in through the rafters."

"Yes, sir."

"And don't let Loki see you. I don't want to be the one to deal with your father if he punches you through a wall."

Joei rolled her eyes and grit her teeth, "Yes, sir."

Josephine arrived at the containment module in time to see Thor trapped inside the cage, Loki standing outside and watching his adopted brother with a smirk on his face. There was noone in the rafters, just a single soldier standing a few feet away from Loki.

Thor pounded his hammer against the glass and Joei inwardly groaned as the mechanics holding up the module gave way.

"Humans think us immortal," Loki said, moving to the module's control panel, "Shall we test that?"

"Move away please," Coulson appeared from the doorway holding a very large weaponn. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you want to find out?"

The next few moments happened in slow motion for Josephine, and she wasn't sure if she cried out or if the noise couldn't escape her lips. The weapon in Coulson's hand powered up, Loki disappeared before her eyes and reappeared almost instantly behind Coulson, his scepter going into the agent's back and through his chest. Josephine rushed to the ladder that would lead her down to Coulson, feeling harsh wind on her back as the containment module was torn from the ship.

"You're going to lose," said Coulson from the ground as Joei reached him, tears already clouding her vision.

"What?"

"It's in your nature."

"Shh, Coulson," Joei whispered, finding the wound and pressing down.

"Your heroes are scattered," said Loki, taunting them both. Joei looked up at him then, seeing him up close for the first time. Thor was sombre and stood tall in every situation. Josephine could see what remained of the same regal composure in Loki, but he was only just clinging to it. In his eyes there was desperation. "Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

Loki raised his scepter once more, staring at Joei, "Really? I don't think I-"

Loki never finished his sentence, as the weapon still in Coulson's hand flared up and blasted him though the wall.

"So that's what it does." Coulson muttered.

Joei looked down at her hands, still pressing against Coulson's chest. They were soaking red up to her elbows, sleeves stained black and sticky and too warm.

"We need to get you to the med bay," she finally spoke, voice shaking barely above a whisper.

"No."

"What do you mean, no? Coulson you're bleeding out we...we need to get a doctor we need..."

"We won't make it."

The tears were falling down her face now, "No! No, I'm not going to sit here and watch you die!"

"Stark."

Fury's voice startled her and he placed a hand on her shoulder, nudging her backwards. She pulled away from Coulson, looking anywhere except her bloodsoaked hands.

"Sorry, boss. The God rabbited."

"Just stay awake," Fury commanded, "Eyes on me."

"No, I'm clocking out here."

Sobs began to rake through Joei's body and she could no longer stand to look at Coulson's face.

"It's okay boss. Joei? Look at me."

Josephine looked up into the face of her mentor, at the tears in his eyes and the pale skin.

"It's okay. Do you hear me? It's okay."

Sticky hands caught in her hair, ruining her ponytail as she continued to cry. Coulson continued to speak, but never finished his sentence.

"This was never going to work if they didn't have something...to..."

A pair of hands were at Joei's arms, lifting her onto her feet.

"Agent Stark, are you injured?"

Through tears and snot and bloody hair she was able to shake her head.

"You need medical attention."

"I'm fine."

"You're in shock."

"I..." Joei shook her head again, losing awareness of her surroundings as shock and pain and sorrow took over her entire body. So this was what it was like to watch your friend die.

She was walking for a few moments, somebody's arm around her waist to help her, before she felt the swooping sensation of being picked up around the waist by something a lot larger than her.

"What is..."

"You're going home."

Her father's voice startled her back to concioius thought.

"What? No. Loki is out there we have to find him!"

"No, I am going to go find him. You are going home." he said.

His grip was tight enough around her waist that she couldn't get out, hanging parrellel to the ground by his side.

"Let. Me. Go!" she pulled at the suit's metal arm, not managing to so much as move a plate of armor. "I told you I am staying here!"

He didn't answer.

"Dad you put me down right now!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, voice raw as tears continued to fight towards the surface of her eyes.

"There. You're down." he said, putting her on the ground and pushing her softly back into a seat.

It took her a moment to realize where she was. A quinjet, ready for remote takeoff.

"No!" she ran after him, but the door was already closing behind him. "Dad!"

"Hello, Miss Stark," Jarvis' voice rang out, "We will be taking off momentarily, I would suggest buckling up."

"No, Jarvis, stop this and open the door!" she yelled, trying to squeeze her fingers arounda dn door and pry it open to no avail.

"I am unable to do so, Miss. Sir has removed your access to direct the course of this Quinjet."

She punched at the door, leaving behind a red stain, "Can I at least know where we're going?"

"Stark Tower, Miss Stark. There will be a hot shower and freshly pressed clothes waiting for you when you arrive. Please, do have a seat and buckle up for your safety."

Josephine walked to the pilot's seat and glared out the window as she buckled in. She would get to the Tower and sneak out if she had to. There had to be something she could do from the New York base.

When they were in the air and she could stand back up, she looked around at the rather large quinjet. It was made for five or six people and a pilot, with a door on each side. She tried the first door and found a supply closet with backpacks, water, and the type of dehydrated food in a bag that people took to space. The other side revealed a tiny bathroom with a toilet and a small sink. Walking to the sink, she let the water wash away as much of the blood as she could, trying to look away from her face in the mirror and the red water that disappeared through the sink. It didn't work. No matter how hard she tried, her eyes caught her reflection in the mirror.

The blood of her most respected trainer was smeared on her forehead, reaching up to stain her hair a darker shade. Her sleeves were covered in it too, and she looked down at the sink against her will. The red water and the stains still on her hands made her sick, and before she could stop herself she was puking into the sink, the smell of stomach acid and coppery blood mixing in. Tears streamed down her face. She'd always hated throwing up, and could remember doing so twice in her life. Once while she had the flu, and another time after eating twenty chicken nuggets and riding a roller coaster twice in a row on her fourteenth birthday. Neither one of those times had made her feel as terrible.

Her stomach churned once more and her throat burned in protest as she leaned over and emptied her stomach again.

After ten minutes, her hands were as clean as she could get them without soap and she had rinsed her mouth repeatedly. She washed the dried tear tracks off her face and looked down at the crusty shirt sleeves and the stained vest she was still wearing. She pulled the tie out of her hair and ran her roots under the sink, trying to wash it as best as she could in the small space and closing her eyes against more red tinted water.

Hair and face and hands still dripping she walked over to the supply closet and found a shirt that was a size too big. It felt comforting to pull it on after she'd peeled off the dirty vest and shirt from before. It was almost like being a little girl and pulling on one of her father's t-shirts after a day at the pool or on the beach. Almost.

"Miss Stark, we will be arriving in New York in two hours," Jarvis spoke for the first time when she was back in the pilot's seat, "Might I suggest trying to sleep?"

Joei dug into the dirty vest and found her cell phone, "In a minute, Jarvis. Mute, please."

Grateful that her dad hadn't blocked use of her cell phone, Joei searched for Caitlin's number and dialed.

"Hey, what's going on?" Caitlin answered after one ring, "Are you okay? They've got us sending parts and medical supplies to the Hellicarrier. What happened?"

"Bad guy got caught. Bad guy's minions blew up part of the ship. Bad guy got away."

"Are you okay?" Caitlin asked again, sounding gentler this time.

"No. But I need to do something."

"What?"

"Anything. Dad put me on a quinjet headed to the tower. I need you to go over there and turn off the security measures in my room so I can go to the base and figure out where Loki is going next. I'll be there in about two hours."

"I'll have a car waiting for you when you do." Caitlin paused in hesitation, "Joei, what happened up there?"

A knot formed in Joei's throat and her voice sounded foreign, "He killed Agent Coulson, Cait. I watched him die. I can't let Loki win."

Caitlin was silent for a moment before answering with conviction, "He won't. I'll be waiting for you at the Tower."

* * *

Josephine had pulled out a mat from the supply closet and did her best to fall asleep on the floor, but every time she closed her eyes images of a dead man and bloody hands flashed before her. Only hours before she had been exhausted, falling asleep with her chin on her fist while she did research. Now sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.

She texted Natasha and found out what had happened to her team. Nat had hurt her leg, Barton was in recovery, Thor and Banner were missing, and Steve and her dad were somewhere on the Hellicarrier with Fury. Loki was going to make his play today, and they had no idea where he was headed.

"We are about to land, Miss Stark."

"Thank you, Jarvis."

The moment Josephine had stepped off the quinjet and onto the landing pad, the quinjet was back in the air. Caitlin was waiting for her at the door, and as soon as she was close enough, Joei's knees gave way and the blonde caught her in her arms.

"Oh, honey...it's going to be okay. Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

The shower in her bathroom felt too shiny and clean and new. She supposed that was how it should be, since the Tower had only gone online yesterday and this was the first time she'd ever officially been in her finished bedroom. Some of it still smelled like the light green paint on the walls. Traces of pink still came away with the water as she washed her hair and scrubbed roughly at her arms. There was no red left, but she could still feel the warm sticky feel of blood. She wondered if that feeling would ever go away as she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel that was too soft and too yellow.

There were freshly pressed clothes waiting for her as promised. A pair of pants and a shirt in the same gray and dark blue she'd been wearing before, only without the S.H.I.E.L.D logos to give her away in a city full of photographers waiting to catch a glimpse of a Stark walking out of their new home.

She walked out of the bathroom with a towel still wrapped around her long hair and found Caitlin standing in front of a holographic screen.

"Dad?"

"Joei, you both need to get out of the Tower. I've already called for evac."

"Why?" asked Caitlin.

"The power source," Joei answered before Tony could explain, "He's going to use the Tower, isn't he?"

"He made it personal, and he wants to put on a show. Get out of the Tower. Get out of New York."

"No."

"Goddammit Josephine, would you just listen to me?"

"No!" she yelled at the screen, "No, you are going to listen to me! I don't care what you say I am not leaving! I was supposed to watch Coulson's back! I was supposed to make you idiots a team and I failed! This is just as much my mission as it is yours, and I've failed it. So if there is any chance that Loki's plans can be ruined I am staying here and I am going to help stop him. You can be as angry as you want and you can never speak to me again but you are not dragging me away or locking me in my room. I will see you when you get here. In the mean time, I'm going to continue the evacuation and figure out a way to get the city ready for a potential alien invasion."

Before Tony could answer, she ended the call.

"So what's the plan, boss?" asked Caitlin.

"Partner." Joei corrected, "We're partners."

Caitlin smiled, "What do we do?"

"For starters we have to get people out of here as quietly as possible. Jarvis, how many people in the building?"

"Only fifty, Miss Stark. None of the offices have officially begun work yet."

"Send out a message that we need to run a test with the reactor and will be emptying the building for safety purposes. I want everyone out in five minutes, Jarvis. Where's Mom?"

"On a plane flying over the Atlantic, Miss Stark."

"Good. Can you get me specs to the arc reactor and a way to turn it off manually if it comes to it?"

"Yes, Miss Stark."

"Joei," Caitlin gasped, looking out the window towards the landing pad, "Look."

Josephine looked out the window at the landing pad. She recognized Erik Selvig as he tampered with a large device. Only a few feet away, the God of Mischief stood watching, scepter in hand.

"Get down, we can't let him see us. Jarvis, does he know we're here?"

"No, he has sent a team to enter the building and find the arc reactor. They've informed him that the building is empty."

"Are these windows one way?"

"Yes, Miss Stark. He is unable to see inside, but intends to enter the penthouse."

"Alright, mute all communication within the Tower. You talk to me and Dad directly until this is over."

Joei walked over to the desk in a corner and found her cell phone's hands free device and a Stark Watch.

Caitlin, meanwhile, was rummaging through a backpack in the corner. She pulled out various weapons and handed Joei a belt with two more guns, extra ammunition, and a baton.

"I hear you've gotten pretty handy with one of these."

"So they say. Jarvis, can you turn off the reactor?"

"I can turn off the main energy source, Miss Stark, but your father installed a back up generator in case of emergencies. It may contain enough energy to power Dr. Selvig's devise and can only be shut down manually."

"How many of Loki's minions are headed toward the reactor?"

"Four, Miss Stark. All heavily armed."

Josephine turned toward Caitlin, "Please tell me you brought backup."

"I've got three agents waiting across the street."

"There's an emergency exit on the south side. Have them go in through there and go to the stairwell. We'll meet them there."

While Caitlin contacted their fellow agents, Josephine checked her cell phone and found a text form Romanoff.

 _Headed to New York with Barton and Cap. Iron Man flying ahead._

Joei smiled wryly at the text. Barton might seem alright to work in the field, but she knew he would be carrying a lot of regret and guilt, especially over Coulson.

As she rode the elevator down with Caitlin, the older girl stared at her curiously.

"Are you going to tell me what happened up there?"

Joei shook her head, "Too much happened. I can't let it get in my head right now, we have a mission to do and failing means the end of the world."

"Now you sound like an Agent."

"I'm not sure I like feeling like one."

They were silent again, until finally reaching the ground floor and sneaking toward the stairwell's doors. Three agents were waiting for them there, all around Caitlin's age.

"Joei this is August, Lucas, and Piper. Guys, this is Joei Stark."

"Yeah," said the girl - Piper, "We know. What's the plan, boss?"

"Does this make us Avengers now?" asked Lucas.

"How do you know about the Avengers?" Joei asked in surprise.

"His Dad is a member of the World Security Council." Piper rolled her eyes. "He likes bragging about things he knows that we don't."

"Then you probably know that your dad and his friends don't think very highly of my team." said Joei.

"I do, but I happen to think he's wrong." said Lucas, "And I'd be honored to help prove it to him. So, again, what's the plan, boss?"

Joei gulped down her nerves. These agents were armed to the teeth, trained in combat, and all older and more experienced than her, but it was her job to tell them what to do. She turned to the watch on her wrist, allowing Jarvis' holographic interface to appear, showing a map of the tower.

"Jarvis, where are the Loki's guys stationed?"

"Two just within Basement Level Four," Jarvis said, showing a blueprint of the floor and two heat signatures, "And another two are currently trying to break into the Arc Reactor's containment room. The back up reactor is in a chamber just beyond that room."

"Alright, then it's probably best if we sneak up on the guys at the door. If the other two get inside that room, I don't want them running off with anything."

"Leave the sneaking to me and Lucas," said August. He was short, but extremely built, making him look like a too buff seventh-grader. "We'll have them down before they even know what hit them."

"If you say so."

"They will," Piper nodded, "Nobody is better at stealth, except maybe Romanoff herself."

"Of you go, then. What about you?" Joei asked Piper.

"I'll watch you backs," said Piper, lifting up her gun, "This baby is full of the fastest working tranquilizers out there. We'll sneak up on them, put them down, and you two can go do whatever science stuff you need. I'll tie them up and get them back to HQ."

"Sounds like a plan."

Caitlin put a hand to her ear, listening to whoever was on the other side, "Lucas says the two at the door are down. Time to go."

All in all, it was easier than Josephine thought it would be. Loki had taken some strong agents and mercenaries into his ranks, but it was obvious the Alien-God believed he had already won. Piper had shot down the other two men in two swift shots, and was now tying them up and preparing to carry them off to the car outside in the noisy basement elevator.

Josephine entered the arc reactor's chamber and stared up in slight disappointment. The reactor at the factory in California had always seemed big and flashy and awe inspiring to her, with its many colors of light spinning so fast it almost made her dizzy. She supposed it was only that way because it was meant to be showed off. The reactor powering the tower was meant for functionality, and was probably less impressive now that it was turned off. It was a big metal circle with a slightly glowing core in the center, perhaps even simpler the reactor in her dad's chest.

She walked past the reactor to a door on the other side of the room. A large generator sat in the middle of the room, hooked up to various wires against the far wall. Just inside was a panel of screens and some buttons.

"What now?" she asked.

Jarvis answered quickly enough, "I have prepared the screen for manual shutoff, Miss Stark. You need only follow the instructions."

Josephine entered her birth date and name, then allowed the screen to take her right handprint.

"Authorizing manual shutdown by Josephine Margaret Stark," said Jarvis in a voice that sounded much more robotic than the AI's usual remarks. A few moments passed and he spoke again, "Access granted."

"Thank you, Jarvis."

"My pleasure, Miss Stark. Once the system shuts down, you must go to the blue lever on the right hand side of the generator and push it all the way down, otherwise the system will reboot."

Josephine followed the instructions to shutdown, and when the screen had counted down and the humming of the generator had stopped, she went to the lever and pushed down. It was hard and required a lot of her strength, but she finally managed to get it down.

"Did you do it?" asked Caitlin.

"Manual shutdown has been successful," said Jarvis through Joei's earpiece.

"We did it. The Tower is offline. Only our phones and the Iron Man suits have access to Jarvis now, and both reactors have been fully powered down."

"We should get back up. There's still going to be an angry alien to deal with."

"Yeah. Maybe we should let the superheroes deal with that guy."

"Miss Stark, Director Nick Fury is requesting communications access."

"Access granted."

"Agent 96."

"Director. We've shut down the power source but we don't know yet if Selvig managed to get his device to work."

"Too little, too late, kid," her dad's voice came in, "The device is already self-sustaining, I'm going to engage Antler Head."

"What?"

"Get out of the Tower."

Joei and Caitlin ran up the Basement stairs and out into the street, watching as the Iron Man suit landed on the roof.

"He's going to get himself killed."

"We need to start getting people out of here."

"Find as many cops and first responders as you can. Spread the word that they may need to evacuate the next few blocks but that we need to avoid chaos. If he can't shut down the portal and Loki manages to get his alien army out here, things are going to get really bad really fast."

"I demand a paid vacation after this," said Caitlin.

"You and me both, hon."


	6. Chapter 6

**And today we continue with a Battle of New York! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, please review more 3 You give me life.**

 **Disclaimer: Marvel owns it all.**

* * *

Josephine looked up as a deafening blast tore through the sky above Stark Tower. They had only managed to alert the authorities, but nobody had been evacuated from the streets yet.

"Get everybody underground," she said to Caitlin and Piper as she watched Iron Man fly toward the creatures that were tearing through a hole in the sky, "Go!"

It took only a few seconds for chaos to break through the people on the street and spread into the stores and cars. Within a minute, alien fire was raining down. Josephine ran behind a truck, trying to focus through the screaming and the sound of everything being blown up.

"Incoming, kid," her dad's voice came through.

Josephine turned to her right as her dad landed before her, lifting his hand to take out an alien behind her. He grabbed hold of a car and shoved it into place, making a barricade with it and the truck Joei had been hiding behind.

"If you're not going to leave then I sure as hell am not letting you run out here with a pistol and a metal stick. Catch."

Joei caught a large golden cuff.

"Put it on. Shoot anything that isn't a human. You're on evac duty."

With that, he was back in the air being chased by a swarm of aliens.

"Jarvis?"

"The cuff is connected to FRIDAY, Miss Stark, shall I redirect you?"

"Yes. And put all the Avengers on the same channel. I want to stay in contact with all of them."

It only took a moment for FRIDAY's voice to come through, "I believe you're supposed to put it on your left hand, Miss Stark."

"Right." Joei said, changing her watch to her right and opening the latch on the cuff to place her left arm through it. Almost immediately, the cuff began to unfold on itself, revealing an entire golden gauntlet that reached to her elbow, a miniaturized arc reactor on her wrist like a watch, and a blaster at her palm.

"Now what?"

"Point and shoot," said Tony.

"Okay. Got it."

She took a peak from behind her barricade of cars and caught a glimpse of an alien flying a few feet above. She raised a hand, imitating the movements she'd seen Iron Man do a hundred times over, and shot.

The alien was blasted off its strange hovering ship and into the street. A few feet down, a group of people was cowering against an abandoned storefront.

Josephine jumped out of her barricade and ran, looking frantically for the safest way to get the people underground.

"Head for the subway!" she yelled when she was close enough, "I'll keep you safe! Go!"

She followed behind the group, keeping her eyes on the skies. So far none of the aliens had landed on the ground. She took out two more before they reached the entrance to the subway. On the third try, she missed the alien by a good two feet, but he'd spotted her.

Josephine dived behind a car as police sirens sounded closer.

She peaked out as the alien got closer and aimed once more. The creature fell off its vehicle and landed on top of a police car. The vehicle spun out of control and continued down the street until it hit a stoplight, causing a small explosion. Above her, the giant letters of her last name fell from the sky and onto the smaller buildings bellow.

"Stark, we're on your three headed northeast." Agent Romanoff's voice cut through the screaming and the sounds of gunfire.

"What, did you stop for drive thru? Swing up Park, I'm going to lay them out for you."

Josephine lost track of much of what happened after that. She turned away from Park and began finding the quickest routes to get people underground. The police meanwhile seemed at a loss as to what to do.

She ran from shopfront to shopfront, yelling at the people inside to get to the basement. Many times over, people insisted she go underground with them. She always shook her head and told them to go.

"I'll be fine!" she assured a middle aged woman in an apron, "Get underground! This building is small, if it falls the basement will still hold and we can still get you out. Text and call everyone you know. Tell them that if they're in a skyscraper they need to get out and head towards the subway."

"You're Iron Man's daughter!" a teenager called from within the crowd. "Are you a superhero now, too?"

She shook her head, "I'm just trying to help. Get underground. Call your friends."

When the handful of people in the little tea shop had gone, she hid behind the register. A piece of debris had cut into her outer left thigh. The blood wasn't gushing out, but the trickle was steady enough to be a bother if she started running again. She looked around and found a stack of rolled up cloth napkins.

"Friday, how many buildings' intercomm systems can you hack within the closest few blocks?" she asked, removing the fork and knife from a napkin and rolling it like a bandana.

"I'd say about half."

"Get on it. Tell them to evacuate and head toward the subway."

When she was satisfied that the cloth napkin was tight enough around her leg, she stood and went back toward the street.

Most of the street was empty by now, and the fighting had been concentrated to the area around the Avengers. Joei watched the Quinjet go down near the Tower and ran back in that direction.

"You guys okay?"

"We're okay," Steve answered, "Headed out now."

Josephine rounded the corner in front of the bridge and found Steve, Barton, and Natasha looking up at the wormhole that had been created.

"What the hell is that?" Joei asked as a much larger shadow appeared in the wormhole. They watched as what was either a ship or a very large alien exited through the portal.

"What you've never seen an alien centipede whale before?" asked Tony. "You know what, don't answer that."

Joei looked on in horror as alien soldiers on foot jumped from the giant vessel and through the windows of the surrounding buildings.

"Where's Banner, has he shown up yet?" asked Tony.

"Banner?"

"Oh, he'll be here," said Joei.

"Just keep me posted."

Incoming fire led Joei and her companions to hide behind a taxi. Josephine looked down at the map on her watch's interface.

"There's civilians still trapped in those two buildings."

Just then, a ship sped by with a different looking passenger, blasting everything in its path.

"They're fish in a barrel down there," said Steve, referring to the people beneath the bridge.

"We got this," said Natasha, "Go."

"You think you can hold them off?"

"We've got this, Steve," Joei repeated, "Go get him."

"Kid, you've got limited blasts on that reactor. Use them wisely." said Tony.

"How many do I have left, Friday?"

"Twenty-seven, Miss Stark."

"Guns first, then," she said, taking out the gun on her leg.

Joei, Barton, and Romanoff stood up and began to fire as Steve ran off in the direction of the civilians beneath the bridge.

She wasn't sure how much time passed as they shot at one alien after another, sometimes knocking them down, but mostly missing on Josephine's part.

"Concentrate!" Natasha yelled, "Don't let the adrenaline make you messy. Point, shoot, repeat."

Joei nodded silently and grit her teeth, trying to drown out the noise.

"Forget about everything else," Barton shouted at her from a few feet down as he shot an alien right in the head, "Just like target practice. Forget about everything else except the target."

It took a few tried before Joei was finally able to push down the panic over her life, and the distraught over the countless amount of people who were in danger, and the stress of having to save the world. When she managed to drown out the noise and look at the moving targets ahead of her, she was able to shoot the damn thing through the neck, making dark blue blood splatter through the air.

"Not bad," Natasha nudged her as she passed.

"Stark!"

"What?" asked Tony.

"Not you," Steve replied in annoyance, "Maggie, I could use some back up!"

Joei turned to look at Strike Team Delta, who both nodded at her to go.

"On my way."

"I said evac only!" Tony warned.

"Not your call!" Joei yelled back.

She found Steve waiting against a store front, shielding a family that had been caught in the crossfire. A brick one story building with few windows was three storefronts away.

"This way!" Joei yelled from behind Steve, indicating for him to back the family into the storefront as she blasted the door in.

The family rushed inside, the mother attempting to thank them.

"Just stay safe," said Joei, "Grab something sharp and find a storage room or a basement entrance. We'll send out a call when it's safe to come out."

Steve held up his shield and Joei squished herself against his side so that it would cover them both as they ran back to an upturned car.

"We still have another ten feet before we can get to the police."

"Lead the way, Captain." she nodded, reloading her gun and preparing the gauntlet to fire again.

Fire rained down on them as they ran together. Joei almost rolled her eyes as Steve jumped onto an upturned car and then jumped off it just as it was blasted through. She kept her eyes on the sky as much as possible, shooting at anything that tried to shoot her and dodging anything that she didn't hit in time.

The police were standing by, unsure of what to do as they watched the situation in complete panic. Steve jumped onto the top of a car and Josephine ran around to face them, holding up her arms as the police were startled and pointed their guns.

"We need men in these buildings." Steve ordered, "There are people inside and they're going to be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basements or through the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" asked the cop.

Before they could answer, a blast behind them shook the floor. The officer jumped to lift his gun, but Joei and Steve were a lot quicker. Two aliens jumped onto the hood of the car, another appearing in front of the two officers that they'd just been speaking to.

Joei ignored most of what Steve was doing, and the fact that this was the first time she caught a glimpse of one of the monsters up close, and reacted. Her right hand dropped the gun, reaching for the baton at her back as she used the gauntlet to grab the alien from the back of the neck and pull. As the alien was pulled back, she jabbed the baton into a soft spot in the creature's throat between its armor and let it go, shooting its gun and subsequently its arm with the gauntlet, causing alien blood to splatter onto her clothes and the policemen's shoes.

"Anymore stupid questions?" Joei asked as Steve took out his second alien with a hit of his shield.

The cop turned away and began repeating Steve's orders through his radio. Joei picked up her gun again, shoving the baton back into its holster on her back.

"New toy?" asked Steve.

"Is this really a good time for small talk?" asked Joei as they raced back into the fray, returning to their team as the NYPD took control of the street.

"Sorry. Haven't been in a fight in a while," Steve said as he ran beside her.

"Cap, if you keep distracting my daughter and she gets shot, I'll kill you." said Tony. A roar sounded through the comms, seemingly very close to Tony.

"Please tell me that wasn't one of those centipede whale things." said Joei as she stopped behind a pillar to avoid oncoming fire.

"Well, I caught his attention," said Tony, "What the hell was step two?"

Joei ran out from the pillar in time to see a group of Chitauris knocked down by lightning. The God of Thunder had arrived on the bridge.

"You couldn't do that earlier?" asked Joei.

"I was a bit preoccupied with trying to stop my brother from taking over your planet," Thor answered dryly.

"What's the story upstairs?" asked Steve.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable."

"Thor's right," said Tony, "We gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" asked Natasha.

"As a team."

"Steve, I think we're all looking for something a little more specific here." said Joei. "Were fights this full of cliches in the 40s?"

"I have unfinished business with Loki," said Thor.

"Yeah? Get in line." said Barton.

"Save it. Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's exactly what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He's going to need-"

"Captain," Joei interrupted, smiling at the small motorcycle that was approaching them. Steve turned around as Dr. Banner turned off the motorcycle and stepped off.

"So, this all seems horrible." Said the doctor.

"I've seen worse," said Natasha.

"Sorry."

"No, we could use a little worse," the spy reassured him.

"Dad, he's here." said Joei.

"Banner?"

"Scruffy and awkward as ever," she joked.

"Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you guys."

Iron Man turned the corner, a giant Chitauri monster hitting the windows of a skyscraper as it followed.

"I don't see how that's a party," Agent Romanoff quipped.

"Doctor, now might really be a good time for you to get angry." said Steve.

"That's my secret, Captain," said Banner, already walking away, "I'm always angry."

Josephine had watched all the footage available on Bruce Banner a number of times. She knew what the Hulk looked like, what he moved like, and even what he sounded like. Ever since their first meeting she had wondered at how a man who could make himself disappear so easily into the background, and whose every emotion was always kept behind a mask of calm, could transform into his complete opposite.

Watching Banner's transformation into the Hulk lasted all of two seconds, and she resisted closing her eyes to keep the image in her head as his expression changed and every part of him grew and changed color. It took less strength than she thought it would for the Hulk to punch the giant creature right in the face and push.

Armor began to fall from the monster as its tail was forced up.

"Hold on!" said Tony, coming up to blast through a weak spot in the monster's back and blow through it.

Joei, Steve, Barton, and Romanoff all turned away from the explosion and ducked, Joei holding up the arm that was in the gauntlet to shield her head. The top part of the monster broke off and fell off the bridge and onto the cars underneath.

The feeling of victory didn't last long, as around them the aliens that had been scaling the buildings roared in protest. Around Josephine, the Avengers readied their weapons.

"Josephine," Tony turned to look at her, lifting the faceplate to reveal an emotionless mask over his face, "Any chance I can get you to tap out now?"

Joei shook her head, "Sorry."

With a sigh, Tony put the faceplate back on and turned away from her.

"Guys," said Natasha, looking up at the wormhole as more of the giant space whales entered the Manhattan sky.

"Call it, Captain."

"Alright, listen up. Until we close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything, call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Can you give me a lift?" asked Barton.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas."

Joei almost laughed at Barton's annoyed face as he and her father raced off toward the sky.

"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up."

Thor nodded, and with a spin of his hammer was in the air.

"The three of us," he motioned to Natasha, Joei, and himself, "We stay on the ground. We keep the fighting here. And Hulk?"

The green giant grunted in recognition.

Joei smiled and looked up into Hulk's face, "Smash."

"I thought I was giving the orders," said Steve.

"I'm the boss remember?" Joei shrugged, "Although you do look kind of cute when you give out orders."

She wasn't sure whose sputtering was worse, Steve's in front of her or her dad's in her ear.

"Can we not?" asked Tony.

"Listen," Joei said to Steve, ignoring her dad's comments, "You and Nat are more than capable of taking these things out without me. Fighting and shooting things is not my strong hold yet."

"What is?"

"Psychology," she quipped, before taking a deep breath and explaining. Above them, the Hulk had taken out a handful of aliens already, "I pulled Barton out of his haze without too many after effects because I was able to bring a part of him out before I knocked him on the head. If I'd pulled him out cold turkey, he would hardly be able to function right now, let alone fight. Loki's running around which means he left Selvig by himself."

"You think you can pull him out without hurting him?"

"I think all of you are about as subtle as these giant centipede things when it comes to making a person feel not threatened. I'm his best bet. And having him on our side is also OUR best bet at learning how to close the portal."

Steve stared at her for a moment, before an alien's body landed right beside them. Hulk's fighting had started to get ugly.

"Go."

"I'll cover you!" Natasha yelled as Joei took off at a run toward the Tower.

Gunfire from the aliens was sparse, as they were clearly focusing on taking out the Avengers. As Joei neared the entrance to Stark Tower, she came face to face with what was left of the giant S blocking the entrance.

"Friday, what's the closest way in?"

"Hold still, Miss Stark," the voice of Jarvis answered instead, "Mark Six incoming."

"What?" she said, glancing up as a familiar streak of gold and red descended in front of her, "Nope. Not doing that. No way."

"What were you going to do? Take the elevator? Get in the suit!" said Tony as the back of the Iron Man Mark Six opened before her to let her in.

"But..."

"Loki is circling back to the Tower," said Barton, "I'll try to throw him off but you won't have much time."

"Ah shit," Joei groaned, stepping onto the suit that was just a bit too wide around the shoulders and closing her eyes as the suit was blasted into the air. Not being able to see didn't prevent her from feeling a lurch in her stomach as Jarvis flew her way too fast to the top of the Tower.

It was only a few seconds before she felt her feet touch down on solid ground and the front of the suit opened up, causing her to fall onto her knees.

"You okay, kid?"

"I hate flying."

"When you were twelve you said you wished you could live on an airplane forever."

"Airplanes have floors and walls." she grunted, standing up and finding herself in a balcony above the landing pad, from where she could see Thor standing on the Empire State Building and blasting through another of the giant monsters with his lightning. A few blocks away her dad was following Barton's instructions, getting the aliens behind him to make tight enough turns that they crashed into buildings.

Josephine looked down at the landing pad where Selvig was walking around the Tesseract and staring up at the wormhole in awe and fear. She ran inside and took the stairs down two at a time.

"Friday, shrink the cuff back down." she instructed, leaving the two guns and the baton she had been carrying on a nearby counter.

Selvig was standing by the computer when she reached him.

"Professor Selvig?"

The scientist looked up, a slightly maniac look on his face, "You can't stop it."

"I know," she said, "But I think you can."

"Why would I want to?" he chuckled.

"Well for starters, you have friends in New York, don't you? Your roommate from your freshman year at college, right?"

Selvig hesitated before looking back at the computer, "He lives in Brooklyn, he's safe for now."

"But what about after? If the portal stays open then we won't stand a chance. The Chitauri will start to spread farther and I don't think Loki can control them forever. Once he's king of the mountain I don't think he'll even try. Your friend has a wife, doesn't he? Sarah something, right? And a daughter."

"How do you know this?" Selvig asked, and Joei noticed that his hands had started shaking over the keyboard. He clenched them into fists and crossed his arms.

"I'm the team leader. I'm supposed to take care of them which means I need to know who they're up against. You know a little about that don't you? You looked up everything you could on Thor and you even took on S.H.I.E.L.D when we threatened Jane's research. Speaking of which, I don't think she'll appreciate the fact that you opened a portal that released a bunch of monsters that are hell bent on killing her boyfriend, do you?"

She watched his eyes this time, and noticed that the bright blue had dulled slightly, though not by much. She'd thought Selvig would be easier to pull out of Loki's magic hypnosis than Barton, but now she figured that Barton had been trying to fight it all along. Agents were trained to resist all sorts of psychological torture, which meant that a large part of Barton was still left in him when she had bumped his head. Selvig, on the other hand, was holding no resistance against the power of the scepter.

"Dr. Selvig, please. You know that this isn't right. No amount of knowledge is worth the lives of an entire city of people. You need to tell me how to shut it down. You know how to do it, I know you do."

Selvig looked conflicted for a moment. The blue in his eyes came back stronger, then faded down again. He opened his mouth to speak and Joei took a step closer, ready to assess the man's next words as he looked at something behind her.

"Watch out."

They were said so calmly and quietly in comparison to everything else that was going on around them, that the words almost didn't register in Joei's mind until she heard the ship gearing up to shoot behind her and dived to the right, rolling to land back on her feet. The blast didn't touch her, but it was close enough to Selvig to throw him back against a pillar.

When the smoke and dust had settled, she raced back to the scientist and found him with a bleeding forehead. She crouched down in front of him and grabbed his shoulder.

"Dr. Selvig?"

The man didn't answer, only looked around in horror and clutched her arm painfully.

"Dr. Selvig, I need you to focus. Look at me."

"You're bleeding." he finally said, looking down at the napkin tied around her leg. She had hardly noticed it since she'd joined Steve and the others on the bridge. She chalked it up to adrenaline numbing her injuries. Now that she looked down at it, her thigh was suddenly burning. The dive to avoid the blast had most likely been the reason for a fresh wave of blood, which had managed to seep through the white cloth and stain it completely red. Her legs were covered in dirt and grime, and she was sure the wound was already getting infected.

"I'll be fine," she smiled weakly, dizziness setting in, "I need you to tell me how to turn off the devise and close the portal."

"Joei, I'm on my way to the Tower," said Natasha, "Get inside, stop your bleeding, and find a place to hide. I've got Loki on my tail."

"Wait, bleeding?" asked Tony.

"It's a cut on my leg. I'll be fine."

"Not if you keep walking on it," Barton insisted.

"Will you all stop babying me?!" she cried in frustration.

"I'm not an Avenger which means I still get to boss you around." said Barton, "As your Superior Officer I am ordering you to fall back, Agent 96. You are currently unfit for combat! If you fail to follow orders, I will have you removed from field duty until further notice, do I make myself clear?"

With a huff, Joei stood on shaky legs, teeth grinding as she replied, "Yes, sir, Agent Barton."

"Nice job, Bird Brain," said Tony.

"You don't have to sound so smug, Dad."

"Where are you going?" asked Selvig.

"Inside. You can follow me or you can wait for Agent Romanoff. She'll need your help to turn off the Tesseract."

Joei went inside, one hand clutching onto her thigh as she went. Even if she didn't want to admit it to the others, the pain had come back in full force now and the napkin was no longer enough to hold it.

"What's the verdit, Friday?"

"The dive you took earlier placed too much pressure on the wound and opened it farther. However, it does not seem to have damaged any arteries. Stitches will be necessary."

"Where's the closest first aid kit?"

"Down stairs, behind the bar."

"Okay, well, let's take the elevator this time, shall we?"

When the elevator doors opened silently on the next floor down, Joei was faced with the last thing she wanted to deal with.

Loki had been thrown through the window by the Hulk and was lying face down on the floor as the green giant approached him. Joei pressed herself against the wall as the self-proclaimed god jumped to his feet and yelled.

"Enough! You are all of you beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature." he said as Joei edged her way toward the bar where both the first aid kit and a few knives were kept, "And I will not be bullied by-"

Joei froze as Loki was picked up by his foot mid-sentence. The Hulk swung him from one side to the other, making dents in the floor as he flung Loki around like a rag doll. It was almost entertaining to watch, if she hadn't been downright terrified.

At last, with one irritated grunt, Hulk let Loki fall onto the floor on his back, leaving a dent of his shape in the floor.

"Puny God."

The words from Hulk's mouth startled her.

"You...you can speak?"

Joei staggered back when Hulk whipped around to face her with a snarl. He caught sight of her face and settled slightly, grunting in response and pointing between her and Loki, "Watch god."

Joei nodded with wide eyes, "I can do that."

Hulk walked off, jumping through the window again. From his dent in the floor, Loki wheezed and fell still.

"Yeah, he's not getting up." said Joei, taking a step toward the bar again and grunting at the pain in her leg.

She used the wall to prop herself up as she walked toward the bar, bending over with her leg in the air to keep the pressure off it and grabbing the first aid kit from a cabinet. She hauled herself toward the stool next to a sink and laid out the first aid kit in front of her. She removed the napkin form around her leg, realizing it hadn't done much to staunch the bleeding. The black leg of her pants was wet nearly to the knee. Fibers of the fabric had stuck to the cut, which was maybe two inches deep.

Loki made another noise, and Joei looked up to find him with his eyes slightly open before his head fell back down.

"Friday, if he wakes up for more than two seconds, let me know so I can shoot him."

"Yes, Miss Stark."

Tony's voice came through once more, "How's your leg, kid?"

"Messy," Joei answered, "But it should heal soon enough."

"There's some surgical thread and a needle in the first aid kit."

"Why did you put surgical threat in the first aid kit?"

"In case my only child decided she wanted to become a super spy and got herself fatally wounded."

"I'm not fatally wounded," Joei argued.

"Gotta go, kid! Stay safe and don't let the god wake up!"

Joei rummaged through the kit and found the thread and needle. Putting on the gloves from the kit, she pulled out a pair of scissors and cut around the tear in her pants, removing the bits of fabric that were stuck to the wound. The disinfectant solution burned a little as she poured it over the cut, but she bit her lip and let the liquid fall to the ground.

"Here goes nothing," she mumbled as she warily pushed the thread through the needle, "This is either going to be the most badass thing I ever do, or the second time I faint in my life."

The needle stung as she pushed it through her skin, and she grunted as she made the first and second stitch. By the time she was done, her hands were shaking and she felt ready to throw up again.

She covered the stitches in gauze and widened the hole in her pants to reach around her leg and wrap it. All of her clothes were two floors up, and she was not going to let Loki out of her sight again.

When she was finished, she stood up again and walked over to the god, letting the golden cuff open into a full gauntlet once more.

"You don't look so tough now," she smirked. Loki stirred a little too much for her liking, looking like he might sit up, "Oh no you don't."

She took a step back and aimed the gauntlet toward his torso, blasting him back into the small crater Hulk had made him and knocking him out once more.

"Friday, call a detail to come and get Loki, and bring something tougher to hold him with. Chains and a muzzle maybe."

"Yes, Miss Stark."

Joei walked toward the broken window and out onto the balcony. There was still one of the giant centipede-whales remaining, and her dad was flying towards it.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"You ever heard the tale of Jonah?"

"No."

"Get ready for a lesson, then."

Joei watched as her dad flew into the mouth of the giant alien, hands flying to clutch her heart before she noticed that the monster had begun to explode from the inside. Iron Man blasted out from its tail and landed roughly on the ground. Before he had a chance to say anything, a group of aliens shot him back onto the floor.

From her place on the balcony, Joei saw a large group hovering before the Hulk and releasing fire on him.

"There's too many," she whispered to herself.

"Joei!" Natasha called from above her, "The scepter!"

Joei looked down at where Natasha was pointing. On the other side of the balcony, Loki's scepter lay glowing and forgotten.

"Toss it to me! I can close the portal!"

Joei limped over to the scepter and picked it up. It almost vibrated in her hands. Natasha was nearly hanging from the edge of the landing pad above her, and when Joei flung the scepter at her like a lance, she caught it and swung herself back up in one swift motion.

"Incoming call from Caitlin, Miss Stark," said Friday.

"Put her through."

"Joei?!" Caitlin was yelling amidst chaos in the background.

"Cait, where are you?"

"At HQ! It doesn't matter!" Caitlin yelled back, "Joei there is a bomb headed for Manhattan! The Council wants to nuke all of Midtown! You need to get rid of it!"

"I'm on it!" Joei yelled back, ending the call and yelling out through her comms once again, "Dad! There's a-"

"Already on it, kid. Don't worry." Tony replied.

"Guys, everybody, I can close it," Natasha said, "Does anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."

"Do it!" said Steve.

"No, wait."

"Dad, these things are still coming."

"I've got a nuke coming into the city."

"What?" Joei asked, knowing exactly what he was planning on doing before he even had to explain it, "You can't just disable it?!"

"It's going to blow in less than a minute and I'm still in the air. I know just where to put it."

In the distance, Joei watched as Iron Man grabbed hold of the missile and began to lead it toward the wormhole.

"Dad..."

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip."

"There has to be another way to do this," said Joei, eyes brimming with tears the moment the words were out because she knew that this was the only way where nobody got hurt. Nobody except her father.

"I'll save the power for the turn."

"Dad...daddy don't. Please don't do this." she cried, hands around her stomach as she realized she might be sick again, "Don't go in there...don't...you can't just die for everybody. You're the guy that cuts the wire, remember?"

"Promise me that if I die you won't be an agent anymore."

The world got extremely quiet. From her earpiece, she could almost feel the rest of the Avengers holding their breaths. A sob wracked Joei's body as she watched the missile enter New York.

"I'm not going to watch you die!"

"Everything I have ever done has been to keep you safe. Promise me!"

"Stop this!"

"Promise me, Josephine!"

"Fine!" she screamed so loud that her voice broke and the tears blinded her as she saw him approach the Tower, "I promise. I'm sorry."

"Was...was I a...was I a good dad?" he asked as he pushed the thrusters to propel him straight up.

She managed a watery chuckle and nodded although he couldn't see her. She looked away from the portal, unable to watch him anymore, "The best."

"Good...that's...that's good," he grunted, sounding short of breath, "Hey, do me a favor?"

"Anything," she sighed, almost unable to let out the word through the gasping and crying.

"Tell your mom that I l-"

He was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Back again after some much needed vacations! Sorry for leaving you all on a cliff hanger last time, although we know most of what happens after Tony flies into the wormhole. The next part of the story is my favorite, because now we get some time for Josephine to become her own character!**

 **Please review!**

* * *

 **May 5** **th** **, 2012**

 _"Maggie, look up."_

Joei woke with a start, the image of Iron Man falling too fast for too long still burning behind her eyelids. It took a few deep breaths for her to remember that Hulk had stopped her father from falling to his death and that he had made it out alive and in one piece.

She sat up with a groan, realizing she must have been woken by Jarvis or Friday.

"What time is it?" she croaked, trying to blink away the image of blown up cars and smashed windows and aliens.

"It is seven forty in the morning, Miss Stark," Jarvis answered, "Miss Larson has laid out your clothes and left breakfast for you in the kitchen."

"Since Dad already knows her real identity, you might as well call her Miss Graham, Jarvis. Keep the fake name for when we have guests. Where's Dad?"

"He has gone to the airport to meet Miss Potts."

"Good. That's good. Is he still refusing to speak to me or answer my calls?"

"I have been told to mute all calls and text messages on your behalf."

Joei groaned again as she got out of bed, rubbing at her face when she reached the mirror of her vanity, "How long do you think he'll be this mad at me?"

Jarvis was silent for a moment, almost like he was thinking. Which Joei supposed he was in his own way, "Your health and safety have always been my primary directive, Miss Stark. Your father values you above any other person in his life. I believe that his pride may keep him from speaking to you for longer than he would actually like, but it won't be more than a few months."

"Great."

"It may be shorter with the interference of Miss Potts."

"I just don't think I've ever gone more than twenty-four hours without speaking to him, and that's only when we're in different states or countries."

"I am certain Sir will come around."

"I sure hope so, Jarvis. What's on the schedule for today?"

"Debriefing will take place in an hour and a half at S.H.I.E.L.D's New York Headquarters. After that you are scheduled to send off Thor and Loki at a currently undisclosed location."

"Where's the rest of the team?"

"Captain Rogers returned to his Brooklyn apartment for the night. Agent Romanoff has gone to a safe house in Queens. Agent Barton is in medical receiving an analysis on his mental state. Loki is in custody and Thor spent the night on the Hellicarrier. Dr. Banner and sir left twenty minutes ago to get breakfast."

* * *

Joei arrived half an hour before the Avengers were expected to be debriefed. Director Fury was already waiting for her in his office, however.

"Director," she nodded, shaking his hand as she sat across the desk. Agent Hill pulled up a chair on the side of the desk, between the two of them.

"Agent Stark. I was hoping you would show up early."

"I'm glad you made the time to see me if I did. There's still a few questions I have before we walk into that conference room."

"Fire away."

"Okay, for starters, what am I doing here? I know I've asked the same question over and over but your answers just keep getting more cryptic. I failed to rally your team, Fury."

"Did you?"

A wave un anger washed over her and she had to fight to keep her voice down, "Phil Coulson had to die before they could work together."

"Phil Coulson died for more reasons than to be used as a martyr, Agent Stark. He died doing what he signed up to do."

Joei sighed and sat back, "Then what role did I play in all of this? I shot a few aliens, sure. But it was Cap calling the shots out there. Natasha closed the portal. Iron Man…my father blasted himself into space with a nuke on his back to save the city. What did I do?"

"If I wanted somebody to shoot bad guys all day, I would have called in any number of students from Ops. But I didn't. Every person on this team brings something to the table. Your _job_ is to make sure that this team doesn't lose their minds or their cool. We knew this wasn't going to be an easy first ride, but the job got done and it was in part because you made it that way. Your job from now on is to pick up the pieces of broken superheroes and make sure they are fit to fight another day. You'll be tracking down any potential new members, and try to get the current members to work together. They all trust you to some extent. Some day, they might trust you enough to follow every order you give them."

"That was still a little cryptic, but I guess I'll take it. What about Barton?"

"He won't be joining us until later today. He's being evaluated as we speak. Once the evaluation is ready, we'll send it your way and you can decide what to do with it."

"I thought he wasn't an Avenger."

"He won't be until you invite him to the party. Same goes for Romanoff."

"Noted. What about the press?"

"I'll leave that to you, I hear you've got a way with words when it comes to them."

"Yeah, as a ditzy heiress. This is going to be a much bigger issue. Besides, I'm supposed to be keeping a low profile when it comes to the public, aren't I?"

"Then write some statements and get someone else to read them. I'm leaving the fallout in your hands, Agent, which means I'm trusting you with the fate of this team. I don't trust a whole lot of people. The last time I did, I lost an eye."

Joei swallowed and nodded, "Understood, sir."

"Was there anything else, Agent Stark?"

"One more thing," she said, "What do you think the chances are of the Avengers agreeing to therapy?"

For the first time ever, she saw the director's stoic face break away into a small smile, and a chuckle escaped his lips.

"Slim, very slim." he said, standing and pointing toward the door. "After you, Agent 96."

"Yes, sir, Director." She nodded, making her way out into the hallway and toward the conference room.

* * *

Joei tried to catch her father's eye during the debriefing, but he was seated on the opposite end of the table, and kept his body facing the front. She'd been to enough Board meetings to know that Tony Stark was not the type to pay attention in meetings. He was going through as much trouble as he could manage to avoid her.

Steve sat beside her and kept casting confused looks between the two of them. With a slight shake of her head, she promised to explain later.

An hour later, the Avengers stood together as Thor and Loki disappeared in a blast of light, taking the Tesseract with them. Josephine was sure that the World Security Council would not be happy with the Asgardians taking the cube, but Thor was right. Earth and humanity was not ready for its power, or for the enemies that having such an artifact would attract.

As they began to disperse, Josephine looked over at her dad, but she knew it was still a lost cause. He wasn't going to speak to her. Instead, she walked over to where two motorcycles were parked, one classic model and one much more modern sports bike standing side by side.

Shoving her hands in her pockets, she smiled at Steve as he climbed onto his bike.

"It suits you," she nodded.

"Thanks," he smiled, "I hear you might have had some input over the model."

Joei shrugged, "I couldn't really see you touring the country on a Kawasaki."

"So, what's going on there?" Steve asked, motioning with his head toward where her dad was hoping into his car with Banner.

"He's angry. Very angry. He thought I was going to quit."

"You did promise."

"Yeah, because he was about to die and I wanted to honor his dying wish." Joei answered, watching the orange sports car drive away.

"But he didn't."

"He didn't," Joei agreed, "Which makes me immensely happy, but I also don't want to stop being an agent. I don't need to be an agent to change the world, but something in me says I should stay. I don't think I'll be satisfied with scholarships and orphanages and food banks. I can do more. I already did do more."

"That sounds familiar," Steve chuckled, turning on his bike.

Joei climbed onto her own motorcycle and turned the key, "You're not staying for Coulson's funeral?"

Steve sighed, "I haven't decided yet."

"That's a no, then," Joei smiled knowingly, "If you're ever near Willowdale, you should stop by. I'll text you my address. You did learn how to use a cell phone, right?"

"Very funny, Miss Stark. As a matter of fact, I have. Thank you for the cellular. I'll try to stay in touch but for the most part…"

"You want to see the sights." She said and he nodded, "Understandable. Take care of yourself, Steve."

"You, too, Maggie."

Joei smiled softly at the nickname and watched as he drove off without a helmet.

"I suppose super soldiers don't have to worry about brain damage," she muttered to herself as Barton and Romanoff drove away with a nod in her direction, leaving her alone with a perimeter of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Josephine stared at the spot where only minutes before, two alien Norse Gods had travelled through space by Asgardian magic, taking the bright blue cube which had started all this nonsense with them. With one last shake of her head, she shoved her helmet on over her head and drove away, heading back to the Tower in the hopes of seeing Pepper before one of them had to leave again.

* * *

 **May 6** **th** **, 2012**

Joei pulled on her sunglasses the second she was out of her car, scowling against the intense sunlight.

"In the movies, funerals usually have a lot more rain." said a familiar voice.

"Professor Garner," she smiled softly. "It's nice to see a friendly face."

Dr. Garner walked toward her and extended his arms. She accepted his hug without much hesitance. In all honesty, she hadn't realized how much she'd needed a hug in the past two days.

"How's your leg?"

Joei groaned and let go of him to see that he was chuckling quietly, "My picture is all over the news, isn't it?"

"Yep. There's a particularly good one of you and Captain America standing back to back as you blast an alien with that Iron Glove thing. How's your dad?"

"Dad's not talking to me." Joei sighed, "Iron Glove? Is that what they're calling it? I haven't seen any of the news or released any statements yet. Between sending Loki back to his home planet, filling out paperwork, setting up Damage Control, and..."

"And this?"

"Yeah," Joei sighed, looking out at the cemetery as it began to fill with people. "You got anybody to sit with?"

"No, but don't you?"

Joei shook her head, "Barton and Romanoff are here but they are more than capable of handling themselves."

"Well, come on then, let's find a place to sit."

Agent Coulson had clearly never been short on friends. The space around his grave was surrounded by rows of chairs all around. Joei and Dr. Garner took a seat in the second row at the foot of the casket. The sun made her back itch as it hit the black blazer she thrown over a black slip dress. Around her, everyone was dressed in a similar fashion. Her eyes scanned the crowd and she found Romanoff and Barton, both sporting sunglasses over their eyes and stoic faces. She'd wondered if Barton would wear a suit, but he seemed to have opted for just a black dress shirt and black pants. He certainly didn't look like the type to wear a suit. The two agents caught her eyes and nodded at her. She nodded back and gave them a small, tight smile.

Professor Garner nudged her very lightly, and she looked in the same direction as he was looking. Across the space in the first row was a face she had seen only in an old picture on her professor's desk.

"That's her?" she asked, trying not to stare at the small and serious Asian woman, "She looks...different."

"She is," Dr. Garner said sadly.

"But you still love her. Were she and Phil close?"

"The closest," the professor nodded, "I think Phil is...was...the only person who really knew Melinda, even after that mission and our divorce. He was her greatest friend. I worry for her now. I don't know if she has anyone to share her pain with anymore."

The ceremony started not long after that, and Joei felt the tears flow silently from her face. She tried to push back the image of Agent Coulson slumped against the floor with a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. She tried, like the officiant said, to remember him as he always was. Confident in his own awkwardness, always up for a good pun, and always wearing a look of amusement in his flashing eyes. She made the mistake of looking down at her own hands once as they were standing, and a tiny gasp escaped her lips as she saw them coated in red again. Dr. Garner grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, not letting go until it was time to approach the casket and say their final goodbyes. Even then, he kept the tip of his fingers between her shoulder blades. It felt like without them she would float away and never come back.

The casket was closed, and Joei ran her fingers all the way across it as she walked by and whispered a soft, "Thank you...for everything."

She kissed her fingers and let them fall to the head of the casket.

"Goodbye, old friend," said Dr. Garner, touching the casket with his palm.

They walked away and began to head back toward the cars, but someone caught her arm before they could go too far. Joei jumped and whipped around, ready to grab the wrist of whoever had grabbed her.

"Hey, it's okay," Dr. Garner said.

"Sorry," Joei shook her head, "Still a little on edge."

"A natural response," a smooth voice answered.

"Melinda," Dr. Garner said tightly.

The small woman paid him no mind. She looked instead at Josephine with calculating eyes, "Was he in pain?"

Joei almost flinched at how detached the woman sounded.

"Melinda," Dr. Garner repeated, this time as a warning.

Joei shook her head at her professor, letting him know it was fine. Her voice didn't seem to get the memo, breaking and trembling as she spoke, "No I...I don't think so he...he was...I mean I think he was in...in shock. I don't..."

Images of red hands and red walls and empty eyes filled her vision again and she felt the world spin a little. A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality, albeit slowly. She was crying again.

"Melinda, you should go," Dr. Garner said quietly, "She's not like you and Phil. She doesn't know how to do this yet."

"I'm fine," Joei all but whimpered.

With a slight nod, Dr. Garner's ex-wife was gone.

"Come on. You shouldn't be driving right now. We can come back later for your car."

They ended up at a practically empty tea bar, sitting in a corner with no windows.

"So what now?" asked Dr. Garner, "Am I allowed to ask that or is that classified?"

Joei shrugged, "Well Dad's not talking to me, like I said. He's not happy that I don't want to leave S.H.I.E.L.D and that I lied to him for so long. And Mom is trying to mediate between the two of us while running the company and having to deal with that fact that she was stranded on an airplane watching everything go down on a TV screen."

"Sounds complicated."

"Please don't psychoanalyze me right now, I'm just trying to talk."

"Not making any promises. What about the Captain?"

"What about him?"

"Well, you said before that you weren't sure where you stood with him. What about now?"

"I am now less sure. We didn't really get along until we were in the middle of a fight. And then when we saw Loki and Thor off we talked a little, mostly jokes and small talk. He's going to explore the country on his motorcycle. I gave him a debit card and cellphone and Fury told him to take a few months off, so I don't know when I'll see him again. I don't know if he still feels whatever it was he felt back then at the Retreat. And I don't think I feel the same way I did back then either."

"Which was?"

"I have no idea. I mean, I didn't feel the same way he did back then. But now...I don't know. I was a little hurt when he said we should act like nothing ever happened. But I'm not sure if I was hurt because I wanted to continue where we left off or if it was because he bruised my ego. There's also the fact that I have a boyfriend. Well, I think I do...I'm not sure how angry he was about the whole secret agent thing. And these past few days on the Hellicarrier...Steve was like a whole other person. I'm not sure which version of him is the real one."

"Well we all have different versions of ourselves. You're not the same person to the press as you are to your family."

"I know but...I guess I just realized how much we don't really know each other. It probably didn't help that he and my dad insulted each other at every chance they got. I had high hopes for them meeting...maybe a little too high."

"Well I'm sure there are plenty of unresolved issues there. But for now, I think you should put him out of your mind. If he's gone for a couple of months, try to figure out all the other things you've got on your plate. Have you thought about taking the rest of the semester off?"

"During finals week?" Joei laughed, "I'm not insane. Besides, I think I've taken enough time off for now. I'm getting back to school tomorrow. It'll be nice to have some semblance of normalcy in my life. And have a good excuse to ignore the press."

"After the last couple of days I doubt that any of your professors won't give you an extension on your final projects or let you take exams at a later date."

"Clearly you haven't met my math teacher." Joei laughed.

* * *

 **May 7, 2012**

Joei stood in the middle of her room in her apartment in Willowdale, staring down at her cellphone. Alex had called her in the middle of the battle. Obviously she hadn't answered, but he hadn't called her again since then.

Before she could make up her mind, she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. She shoved her cellphone back in her pocket and went downstairs.

"Agent Barton," she smiled when she saw her S.O. dusting his sneakers off on their welcome mat before coming inside. Caitlin closed the door behind him and nodded at Joei before going back upstairs.

"Hey. You look better than you did yesterday." said Barton, adjusting the strap of the messenger bag he was carrying. He looked better, too, and much more relaxed than she'd ever seen him in a gray t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

Joei shrugged, "Sorry I didn't stick around."

"I heard Agent May caught up to you."

"Yes, yes she did." said Joei, motioning for the man to have a seat on the couch, "She's scary."

"I know."

"Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?"

"I'm fine," he said, opening the bag and taking out a file, "Just passing through to leave you this."

"What's this?"

"My shrink's analysis. I'm on the bench for a few months, scheduled checkups once a month. But he did conclude that I'm not a danger to anyone. I'm not sure why Fury wants me to bring it to you, though. I'm not an actual Avenger."

"Actually..."

"What did you do?" he asked warily.

"Hold tight for a second," she laughed, running up the stairs to the safe behind a painting on the wall and finding the file she was looking for. She ran back down the stairs and handed him the paper, "I might have made an analysis of my own. So, if you would accept, I would like to formally welcome you into the Avengers."

"I don't have any superpowers, kid." he shook his head.

"Neither do I. Neither does my dad."

"But he has a suit."

"And you have a bow and arrow and the best eye that S.H.I.E.L.D has ever seen. I'll tell you what...take the report, read it, and you can give me an answer once Fury takes you off the bench. If it helps, Natasha said she was in."

"She did?"

"Yep. And I know you can't go more than a few missions without her so...think about it. The offer will still be there when you get back."

"Mrs. Barton isn't going to like this."

Joei felt her jaw drop, "Was that a confession? Do you have a wife?"

"Sorry, kid," he laughed, "Just a joke."

Joei rolled her eyes and slumped back into the couch cushions, "Next you're going to tell me you don't live on a farm."

Barton laughed and stood up, "I should get going before it gets later. My safe house is a little far off."

"How far?" Joei asked cheekily, standing with him.

Barton laughed again, "You'll never get it out of me."

"Agent Barton, I think that is the first time I've ever seen you laugh this much."

"Yeah, well," he took on a fake accent, "Gettin' back to dem ole' chickens and hogs really gets me in all sorts a ways, darlin'."

"Oh God," Joei cringed, "Nope. No more farm jokes. That was terrible."

"Hey, you asked for it," he chuckled, reaching into his pocket, "I want you to take this."

Joei looked down at the small metal box, opening it to reveal a pretty ring shaped like an arrow that wrapped around the wearer's finger.

"It's a homing beacon." he explained, "The arrow is supposed to face up, but if you turn it around to face your palm and fold your index finger down on it for a couple seconds, it will activate, and I can find you if you're ever in trouble. Fury may have benched me, but if you need me, I'll be there."

"This is...really nice, Barton. Thank you."

"We look out for our own."

"Yes, we do." she nodded, putting the ring onto her right index finger. "Take care of yourself, Barton. Don't get too lonely wherever you're going, and don't give your therapist too much trouble."

"I won't." he said, walking toward the front door, "Take care of yourself while I'm gone. I don't want Iron Man to show up at my door and knock me out because I didn't take care of his kid."

Joei laughed as she ushered him out the door. She stood in the entry way to the apartment for a few seconds, before Caitlin came down the stairs again.

"Have you called Alex yet?"

"Nope," Joei sighed, flipping over the back of the couch so she landed on her back over the cushions, "I have no idea how to even start."

"Well we do have class in an hour, so you might want to start soon."

"Or I could hold it off until after class."

"You mean like how you've been holding it off for the past three days?"

Joei turned over, shoving her face into the couch cushions and groaning loudly into them.

"Joei, just press the call button and talk to him. The worst thing that could happen is he doesn't answer."

"That's not exactly comforting." was Joei's muffled reply.

"Fine. I'm calling him for you."

Joei's head shot up to look at her friend, who was already looking for the contact on her phone, making space between the two of them.

"Caitlin! No!"

"Caitlin yes!" the blonde responded with a laugh, holding the phone to her ear. "It's ringing."

Joei jumped after her best friend, chasing her into the kitchen, "Hang up right now!"

"Hey, Alex? It's Caitlin. Joei wants to talk to you."

"What?" Joei whispered, "No. No don't give me the phone I do not-"

Caitlin shoved the phone into her hand and ran back up the stairs. Joei took a deep breath and held the cell phone to her ear.

"Um, hey," she started shakily.

"Hey."

His voice sounded softer than she thought it would.

"So... I'm sorry I haven't called you back."

"Figured you were busy," he said, this time sounding more defensive, "Fixing the city and all that."

"Yeah I... well that's not exactly what I've been doing but..." Joei ran a hand through her hair in frustration, "Listen, are you busy right now?"

"Not really."

"Do you...want to come over? To the apartment. And I can tell you what happened while I was gone, and we can just talk."

"Don't you have class?"

"I think watching one of my friends die while I held their chest qualifies as justifiable absence. If not, then watching my dad fly a nuke into space might. Or, you know, saving the world from an alien invasion."

The other side was silent, and she figured Alex was trying to process what she had just said. Finally, he answered, "I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Okay. I'll be here."

* * *

 **May 8** **th** **, 2012**

Joei woke but didn't open her eyes, groaning against the pain that seemed to bloom from nowhere in her head. She buried her face deeper into the pillow before realizing it wasn't a pillow at all.

Taking a deep inhale of the comforting fresh smell of Alex's cologne, she blinked her eyes open and looked up into his face.

"Good morning," he whispered blearily.

"Hi." she whispered back.

They were curled up in her bed, her head resting on his chest as he propped himself up with three pillows. They both still wore the same clothes from yesterday.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Like I spilled my guts to you and then cried myself to sleep," she mumbled against his shirt before rolling over onto her back. "Sorry I fell asleep on you."

"I'm not complaining," he smiled, stretching his arms, "Although maybe next time we could do this in pajamas instead of jeans."

"Agreed," she nodded, before a small smirk fell on her lips, "Next time, huh?"

He answered with a laugh and a sleepy kiss on her forehead, "Only if you want."

"Well it beats sleeping alone." she sat up, stretching her arms above her head and yawning, "Thank you. For staying last night."

"I wasn't going to just leave you here." he answered, sitting up beside her and resting his forehead on the side of her head, "You're my girlfriend. You were in a lot of pain and you needed somebody. I'm supposed to be that somebody who's always there for you. And... I love you."

Joei's breath caught in her throat, "You've never said that before."

"But I've thought it a few times. I just...it never felt like the right time to say it."

"Can I say something?"

"Yeah."

"I've thought it a few times, too," Joei smiled softly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Alex put and arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him again.

"We have class in forty minutes," Joei pointed out, looking at the clock.

"Can we skip?"

"It's math."

Alex groaned and let Josephine go, rolling off the bed and to his feet, "I'm showering first, then."

"Hey! It's my bathroom!" Joei yelled, throwing a pillow at him as he walked away with a laugh.


	8. Chapter 8

**Another in between chapter. I'm really hoping to build on Joei's personality and relaitonships in the next few chapters. Please review to let me know how I'm doing! I've been feeling particularly insecure about my story telling capabilities lately, which is why my updates are lagging once again.**

* * *

 **May 11, 2012**

"Hey, your dad wants to know where you are with addressing the public?" Caitlin asked, looking up from her cell phone.

Josephine sighed in frustration, running a hand through her hair and scowling at the laptop that was resting on her legs, "Ask him why he can't ask me that himself?"

"You know he won't answer me if I do."

Joei rolled her eyes and tried to keep a pout from appearing on her face, "Tell him I just opened a twitter account and I'm thinking of the best way to make a statement. I don't feel like rounding up the press in a crowded room for this one."

"Yes, ma'am."

Caitlin typed away on her cellphone for a moment and hit send. The room fell into comfortable silence as Caitlin switched through TV channels, looking for any new information that was being released on the Battle of New York. Since it had been a week, most of the news outlets were just repeating the same information, or moving on to newer bits of news.

The Avengers had been introduced to the world as a special ops team, and the appearance of Captain America had been explained in as vague terms as possible, but people were still wondering what Josephine Stark's role was within the team.

"Alright," Joei exclaimed twenty minutes later, having finally decided it was time to let people have it, "I'm sending the tweets now. And then I'm logging off twitter for the next ten years."

"Let me hear it," said Caitlin.

Joei cleared her throat and began to read the series of tweets that she was about to upload onto the internet for the world to read, analyze, and criticize, "It's been a week since the sky was torn open and an army from another planet came raining down on New York City. Like the rest of the world, I was shocked to learn that we are not alone in the universe, and that images from movies and tv shows had suddenly become a reality. I watched in terror as my father and his teammates fought to protect the city, and like many other New Yorkers, I did what I could to help. I grabbed the closest weapon I could find, in my case a prototype Iron Man Gauntlet, and ran through the streets trying to help people get to safety. I won't pretend to be a superhero, or even a regular hero like the policemen and first responders who were there that day. Even now, I'm just a regular citizen trying to come to terms with what happened, and hoping that the rest of the world will work together to keep humanity safe from the threats that we now know exist. As for those who want to know if I'm an Avenger, the answer is no."

Caitlin nodded in satisfaction, "It's good. Send it."

"Here goes nothing."

As soon as the tweets were sent, Joei logged off and snapped the laptop shut.

"I'm a coward," she groaned, lifting herself off the couch, "I can't deal with this."

"I think you already dealt with enough," said Caitlin, "You deserve a break for once, especially from the press."

"If you say so. I'm going to go take a shower, and then I have to get to work on my evaluation."

"Evaluation of what?"

"Of the Avengers post-battle. I'm pretty sure they all need therapy, not just Barton."

"And you think they'll actually agree to go?"

"Nope."

* * *

 **June 4, 2012**

"Cut! Alright, everybody, take ten."

Joei tried to keep a straight face as Steve walked away from the green screen and toward the catering table where she was nibbling on crackers and cheese.

Only a few days ago, the Bureau of Education had gotten in contact with Tony in hopes that they could find Captain America and get him to record a series of PSAs directed at high school students. Tony had passed them off to Caitlin, who along with Joei had been keeping tabs on the locations and contacts of all the Avengers. In doing so, he'd told the Bureau and anybody else involved that Joei was now in charge of the Avengers' public appearances. Thus they had ended up on an impromptu set in Willowdale, with Steve dressed in his repaired Captain America suit and Joei standing far enough to where her quite laughter wouldn't distract Steve or the rest of the crew.

"Stop it." Steve said seriously as he got to the table.

"What?" she smirked playfully.

"Stop laughing at me."

"I would never," she said, though her mind betrayed her a second later as an unladylike snort escaped from her nose.

"You're a terrible friend. I don't know why I let you rope me into doing this." He said, removing the cowl of the Captain America suit and grabbing a bottle of water.

"Excuse me?" she answered, wiping the crumbs from her fingers, "They called me and asked me to relay the message. You're the one who agreed."

"Well, when you said they wanted me to record PSAs for the youth of America, this isn't exactly what I envisioned."

"Are you telling me that looking disappointed but supportive while saying 'So, you messed up and got detention' isn't a step up from punching a fake Hitler in the face in an attempt to sell war bonds with Star Spangled Man With a Plan plays in the background?"

Steve groaned, "Are you ever going to let me live that down?"

"Never. I will come back from my grave and haunt you with it."

"Assuming I don't die of mortification first."

"In that case I'll set up a solar powered stereo above your grave and let it play all day and night for all eternity."

"You need help."

"So do you," Joei pointed out, "Like, officially. I wrote a report and everything. There's even a referral from an actual doctor. And yet…"

"I'm fine."

"Really? Because I'm not. Nobody on the team is. And yet Barton and I are the only ones who are going to therapy. And Romanoff, surprisingly, but I suppose she understands the importance of having a clear head out in the field."

"The only thing keeping me from having a clear head are these damn commercials."

Joei sighed, "You're deflecting the issue. I get it. Therapy was still a big taboo in the forties. Actually it's still a taboo now in some places. But think about it, please. If you go, I promise to never put you down for any photoshoots, interviews, public appearances, or PSA recordings ever again."

A distorted voice called through a megaphone before he could answer, "Captain Rogers, please report back to the set."

"Just think about it, Steve."

"Fine, but I'm not making any promises that I can't keep."

"That'll do for now," she nodded, "Go be a superstar. I think you're doing the puberty one next."

Steve scowled, putting the cowl back over his face and walking away as Joei laughed. Pulling out her cell phone, she snapped a photo just as he sat down in front of the green screen and sent a quick text to Natasha.

 _Never getting over this._

It didn't take long for the spy to get back to her with a picture of herself sitting in front of a computer.

 _Ready to hack into whatever government database I need to download this footage._

Three hours later, the director had decided that he'd gotten final cuts of all the commercials and Steve was allowed to change into normal clothes and leave. The suit was packed neatly into a suitcase, and Joei walked out through the back door with Steve to find a black sports car waiting for them. The driver rolled down his window, revealing large black sunglasses and a crisp suit.

"The name's Fullerton," Jimmy said, "James Fullerton."

Joei laughed loudly and smacked his shoulder playfully, "Ok, Double Oh Seven, don't hurt yourself."

"You like the new car? Came with a promotion."

"Congratulations," Joei smiled, "How does it feel to be Top Butthead of the Library?"

"That's rude."

"I speak the truth," she shrugged, "Steve, this is Agent James Fullerton. He's stationed at the Library, it's the closest SHIELD base. He's in charge of transportation of people, assets, objects, etc. Everything that comes and goes from the Library and surrounding areas."

"It's an honor to meet you, Captain," said Jimmy, although Joei noticed that his nod and smile were slightly more tense than usual. They hadn't been dating for a long time, and they had both moved on to other people and become good friends, but now that Steve and Joei's time at the Retreat was common Level 2 knowledge, it hadn't taken Jimmy long to figure out that their break up had happened while Joei was alone in the woods with the super soldier of every woman's dreams.

"The pleasure is mine, Agent Fullerton," said Steve, nodding at the Jimmy and holding up the suitcase, "I suppose you're here for this?"

"They didn't tell me, but that important so I guess it's why I'm here."

"It's the Captain America suit. And the shield."

"Oh boy," said Jimmy, eyes lighting up.

"Which is why you better take good care of it, Fullerton," said Joei, "No opening it for a peak."

"When have I ever done that?"

"Need I remind you what happened to your last car?"

"No," he huffed.

"Exactly. No looking or the next time I give you something to transport, I'm putting a bomb inside it."

"Yes, ma'am. Am I transporting you, too?" he asked, "The car's a convertible. And I'm allowed to drive as fast as I want."

Joei laughed, "Sorry, Bond, but I think I'll stick to two wheels for today. Besides, you have to get that suit on a plane to D.C. ASAP. Cap, give me a ride?"

"Of course."

"Jimmy, it was good seeing you. Movie night still on for Friday?"

"Is Caitlin back from Chicago?"

"Why don't you text her yourself and ask?"

"She's kind of mad at me."

"Why?"

"I'm not really sure. That's why I need her to be back so I can begin to grovel for forgiveness."

"Why not start by asking her to dinner? Like on an actual date, not just to a frat party or a club."

Jimmy blushed, "We're not…I mean she's not…"

"She is. And so are you. Ask her out. That's an order."

"You're not the boss of me."

"When you're working with the Avengers, I'm the boss. Ask her out or I'll hack your phone and do it for you. Now get out of here before you're late for the drop off."

"Yes, ma'am."

Joei watched the car go with a soft smile, turning to Steve as it turned the corner.

"Wasn't that your…"

"Ex-boyfriend, yeah."

"And isn't Caitlin your best friend?"

Joei nodded, "She's also my personal assistant, roommate, and SHIELD partner. I want her to be happy, and even though Jimmy and I have been broken up for a while he's still one of my closest friends and I want him to be happy, too. They've been bickering and avoiding their feelings for months now and I think it's about time they make a move."

"You're a very interesting person, Agent Stark."

"Why, thank you. What do you say we go grab something to eat before you take off to wherever it is you're going next?"

"That sounds good."

"Lead the way, then," she said, allowing him to go first toward his motorcycle.

* * *

 **June 5, 2012**

Joei reached for the ringing cell phone on her bed, sitting cross legged in front of a notebook and two text books while trying to study.

"Hey, you."

"Hey," Alex greeted softly, "You get a chance to look at TMZ or Perez yet? My aunt Winnie sent me a very concerned text."

"What did we do now?"

"You cheated on me with a blond in grandpa trousers." He said, amusement clear in his voice.

Joei laughed loudly at the false accusation, "Did they really use the term grandpa trousers? Because if they did, I need to save that article and show it to Steve so he can start wearing the clothes I bought him and look like a normal person."

"Perez said he was an old-fashioned Greek God."

"Oh, he'll love that."

"You busy?"

"Oh, not really, just drowning in all the work and study topics that I missed while I was saving the world from an alien invasion. You?"

"My uncle Ian called me this morning." Alex said, sounding a lot more serious.

Joei put down her pen, closed her laptop, and sat a little straighter, "I'm guessing he didn't call to ask if you're alright after our lover's spat."

"No. He's on his way to meet me. It sounded serious."

"Does he make a habit of flying to Willowdale for impromptu meetings?"

"Never. The only time we talk is at family functions or public appearances."

"What do you think he wants?" she asked, standing and beginning to pace around the room.

"I have a hunch. Dad's been talking a lot about what he's going to do with his shares of the company once he's gone, and he and Mom have mentioned a few times that there might be some shares up for grabs soon. One of the stockholders is thinking of selling."

"You think they want to bring you in to the company?"

"Possibly. They've always said that I could start an internship as soon as I was ready."

"Maybe they think you're ready."

"Yeah," he sighed, sounding unconvinced.

"You okay?"

Alex's sigh was louder this time, and Joei could imagine him reaching up to rub his left temple as he usually did.

"I just…I can't stop thinking about what Jimmy said before you guys left. I know now that S.H.I.E.L.D. is one of the good guys. If they had to intervene…does that make my uncle a bad guy?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D intervenes in a lot of things. Your uncle made a bad call, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's a bad guy."

"I know but…it sounded like he knew what he was doing and did it anyway. And even though S.H.I.E.L.D. got involved he was able to get away with it. Something just doesn't sit right with me. And my dad…I don't know if he's involved in whatever schemes my uncle might have going on. I want to believe that they're both doing everything the right way, but if my dad turned out to be doing something wrong…I'm just not sure if I'm ready to open my eyes to that, you know?"

"I know." Joei said, "Trust me. I grew up spoiled on blood money."

"Your dad didn't know they were selling to the other side."

"Guns kill people regardless of who you sell them to, Alex. It doesn't matter if the people we sold them to won or lost." Joei answered, sounding a bit tenser than she had hoped.

"I feel like we're getting into dangerous territory here."

"Yeah, maybe we should leave conversations like this for in person."

"I'll let you get back to studying, okay? I should go put on some nicer clothes before my uncle gets here."

"Good luck."

"Thanks. Hey?"

"What?"

"I love you."

Joei smiled. They'd exchanged I love yous a few times already, but she still felt butterflies in her stomach and a warm feeling in her chest, "I love you, too. Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

 **June 7, 2012**

The doorbell to the apartment rang and Josephine jumped, noticing that the news show she'd been watching had ended a good while ago. She'd sat down thinking that she had a good two hours before Alex arrived and had turned on the television. Somewhere along the line her mind had wandered, until all she could see and hear were aliens and gunshots and blood and screams, and she was back in the middle of a ruined Manhattan block while the television and the rest of the world moved on.

She turned toward the clock when the doorbell rang again. Alex was right on time as usual. She smoothed her shirt into place and stood off the couch, checking her hair in the mirror before opening the door.

"Hey," she said, smiling her best fake smile.

"Hey," Alex answered, looking concerned, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course."

Alex blinked at her and walked inside, watching her closely as she closed the door and motioned toward the paper bags in his arms.

"What's that?"

"I brought a few ingredients. I thought I'd make us dinner."

Joei raised an eyebrow at that, "Really? Well, color me impressed. What are you making?"

"Well, I know how much you like fish tacos. So I looked up a recipe."

"That's very risky of you."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a Californian through and through, my dear. I take my fish tacos very seriously."

Alex laughed, beginning to take things out of the bags which he had placed on the counter, "I'll have to do my best and hope to impress you, then."

Joei walked over to him and began to help him empty the paper bags. He bumped her shoulder as they worked side by side and she returned the gesture. He retaliated by poking her in the ribs, which led to her pulling lightly on his ear. By the time they were finished emptying the bags, she was full on tickling him and he was attempting to grab her hands to stop her. Joei could have easily dodged his attempts, but she let him grab her hands and stop her, holding them in place between both their chests. He raised one of her hands and kissed the inside of her wrist.

Josephine's other hand fell on his neck and they drew together for a kiss. It was a sweet, soft kiss which ended with their foreheads together, hands tangled together between the two of them again.

"I love you," she whispered, splaying one hand on his chest and feeling his heartbeat. It had taken only minutes for the echoed screams in her ears to disappear, and the tinge of red that she often saw on her fingertips these days was gone.

"I love you, too." He replied, kissing the top of her head, "And as much as I would love to stand like this forever, I'm starving."

"Me too," she giggled, "Do you need help?"

"You hate cooking."

"Well, yeah, but my dad raised me to have manners." She scoffed, "Well, actually I think the manners came from Pepper, Peggy, and Rhodey. Dad and Happy spoiled me far too much even if I misbehaved."

"Well I appreciate the fact that you were raised right, but you don't have to help me cook. You can take pictures and post them on Instagram is you wish."

"I do wish, but I don't have an Instagram."

"Well why haven't you made one?"

"I already made a twitter," Joei countered.

"Yes, but anybody who is anybody these days has an Instagram. Even your mom has one."

"No, Stark Industries has one. She doesn't actually do any of the posting."

"Well, either way, if your dad wants you to handle the public when it comes to the Avengers…"

"More like he's punishing me by making me deal with all the public fallout…"

"To-may-to, to-mah-to." Alex said, waving around a spatula, "Social media is the way to go. Press conferences are outdated. And you can control what information you give out on a post better than when you're speaking to someone directly."

"You mean it's easier to hide behind your phone than to face people."

"That, too."

Somehow, between the battering of the fish strips and the heating of tortillas, Alex was able to convince her to open an Instagram account.

"Now what?" she asked, satisfied with the profile picture she had chosen of herself with a handful of kids from last year's J-SEF Carnival.

"Now you post your first picture. Just choose something you like and want to share with the world."

Resting a hand on her chin, she thought about what she could possibly want to share with the world. Her first thought was her family, but they were on the other side of the country, and it would feel fake to post an old picture, especially with the way things were right now between her and Tony.

Joei watched as Alex continued to prepare their food, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his shoulders and looking perfectly relaxed with a spatula in his hand as he pulled strips of battered fish from a pan onto a serving plate. She lifted her cell phone quietly, and he turned when he heard the click from the camera app.

"You said to take a picture of something I liked," she shrugged, "I know we haven't really talked about going public but…"

"But it's all but confirmed at this point, isn't it? We might as well. Maybe if we post enough sappy pictures, people will get so tired of us that the paps will stop following us around."

Joei laughed, "So you don't mind if my first Instagram post is of you making dinner?"

"Not one bit," he said, leaning over the counter to kiss her.

Joei uploaded the picture without adding too many effects, and captioned it with a simple 'Dinner Time,' after which she helped set the table for the two of them, and they fell into a comfortable familiarity of eating dinner and making comments here and there. When they'd finished, she pulled a tub of ice cream out of the freezer and served some into a large bowl with two spoons.

"I need to tell you something," Alex said as they were about to finish the dessert. He looked worried.

"What is it?"

"My uncle asked me to go work for him over the summer as an intern."

"Oh."

"In Malta."

" _Oh._ " Joei repeated, "Malta is…"

"Completely out of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s influence," Alex finished, "I know, I asked Jimmy. I've been asking him a lot about my uncle's business lately. Uncle Ian said he moved to Malta because it's beautiful and private, but I think he did it because he feels that he's untouchable there. Laws are lax, and his citizenship will protect him from being persecuted elsewhere."

"What are you going to do?" asked Joei.

"I'm going to go. I want to find out what's going on. Quinn Worldwide has the biggest philanthropic branch out of any company in the world. I can't imagine that my uncle would really disregard people's safety and the environment so much, but I'm not naive enough to think that all of S.H.I.E.L.D is lying."

"So you're going to Malta to do what? Spy on your uncle?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Yes. Jimmy said he didn't have access to my uncle's file or to the whole file on the mission. He said his clearance level wasn't high enough," said Alex, looking hopeful.

"And you guys think mine is?"

"Well, it's higher than his, isn't it? I mean you're part of the Avengers Initiative."

"If I look up those files, it'll rouse questions that I'm not sure we should answer. If you get too close to S.H.I.E.L.D, it could cause some serious problems with the company and with your uncle. I'm sure he's already on your ass all the time about dating me."

"He's fine with it."

"No, he's not," Joei laughed, "You don't have to lie to make me feel better, honey. He's been trying to make it big in tech for years, and when Dad switched from weapons to tech he all but pushed him out of the game. We're his biggest competitors in that area and I doubt he's happy about me spending time with you."

"Your dad doesn't seem to have a problem."

"Well, for starters, my dad loves you. But also, and no offense to your uncle or your parents, we're the ones who are winning the game and I don't think Dad sees Quinn Worldwide as much of a threat."

"I can't really argue with you on that. My uncle all but gave up on the tech race. For the past few years he's been putting a lot of his money into mining."

"Mining for what?"

"I have no idea. But I'm going to find out, and then we'll go from there."

"And what happens if you do find something you don't like?"

"I guess I'll have to fix it. Or expose it."

"Your family could lose a lot of money if you do that."

"I'll figure something out," Alex said, "Trust me. But first I need to find out what's going on."

"Just be careful, okay?" Joei reached for his hand across the table, "Don't do anything stupid or dangerous. And if you're ever in trouble, call me. I'll have a Quinjet ready to get you out of there in a minute. Screw regulation."

"Is it bad that I just imagined you kicking down a door and shooting at everything in one of those ridiculously sexy catsuits?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm more of a cargo pants and compression shirt type of girl."

Alex closed his eyes, "Okay. I'm imagining it aaaaand…Yep! Still sexy."

Joei smacked his hand and stood up, taking the empty bowl and dirty spoons to the sink, "Keep it up, and I'll send Jimmy to rescue you in the catsuit."

"Kinky."

Joei rolled her eyes, "I'm starting to worry about this bromance you have going on. Am I going to lose you to my ex who is currently on a date with my best friend? Because that would be some soap opera level stuff."

"Sounds like an episode of Glee to me."

"To-may-to, to-mah-to," Joei mocked.

"Don't diss Glee."

"My apologies."

"Now you have to sit through the whole first season with me."

"We agreed to watch Parks and Recreation first."

"That was before you smack talked the best show in the world."

"Fine, while you're off in Malta, I'll watch it by myself." She poked him playfully in the shoulder and began walking toward the sofa in the living room. He followed her and sat down first, opening his arms so she could curl into his side comfortably.

"What do you plan on doing while I'm gone? Are you going back to Malibu?"

"Actually, my Superior Officer called this morning. He wants me to go to a training facility while he's on the bench. I have one more week of therapy with Dr. Garner and then he's going on his own vacation."

"Isn't there some sort of ethical thing about treating people you know personally?"

"Well, yeah, but S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't have many psychologist and Dr. Garner is the one with the highest clearance level, so he's the only one who can actually listen to me talk about what happened on the Hellicarrier and in New York. Talking about Coulson was tough on both of us, though. That's not a topic I'm hoping to cover with him again any time soon."

Alex kissed the top of her head again, then took her hand and kissed her knuckles, "I'm glad he's helping you. I wish you didn't have to go through that sort of stuff, but I know it's part of this job and this is the job you want."

"Yeah, it is."

"And if spending two months on a training ground will make you a better agent, I'm all for it. That way there's less of a chance you could get hurt."

"We'll have to make up an alibi as to why I'm not out and about. Especially if anybody at your uncle's company asks."

"Well, what's your usual alibi?"

"I've only had to disappear for this long once, and I said I was in Canada on a Women's Empowerment Retreat."

"And where were you?"

"At an actual Retreat in Canada," she laughed, "But it was a cabin in the woods with Captain America, and I was teaching him about World History and how to use a computer. And how to dance, although I think that was a failed lesson."

"Captain America can't dance?"

"Not unless he signed up for ballroom dancing classes sometime between then and now." Joei laughed, turning on the TV and looking through the selection of movies, "Anywho…Alibi ideas?"

"We could just say you're working for the summer, too. Just not in Malibu or New York. How about that you're looking for new places to expand J-SEF? Honestly, if anybody starts asking too many questions I can just tell them that you won't tell me because Quinn is the competition."

"I'd say that's a lie, but Quinn beats out anyone in philanthropy, even us."

"Which I'm starting to think is just a cover up to keep my uncle looking spotless."

"Don't get paranoid. It might be that he really wants to help people and this whole S.H.I.E.L.D issue was a misunderstanding or a slip up on his part. Or maybe he did do some bad stuff in the past and now he's trying to atone for it by giving away billions."

"Yeah, maybe. Either way, I doubt anybody will question me about your alibi. The press will be the ones to look out for. They might have bought the retreat thing before but they'll start to get suspicious."

"I could always use my new found social media abilities against them. I have plenty of pictures of different parts of the world saved on my private server. I could fake a vacation."

"That's not a bad idea. I told you Instagram was the way to go."

"Quiet, you." She said, lightly jabbing a finger into his side. "I guess I'll finish up with Dr. Garner, head to Malibu for a couple of days to check on my parents and the foundation, and then it's off to training. When do you leave?"

"On the 27th," he said, playing absentmindedly with her hair.

"I leave on the 28th. I can drive you to the airport if you want."

"Sounds good." He said, leaning down to place a chaste kiss on her lips. "I love you."

"I love you more," she smiled, kissing him again.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"Nope. There's no way."

"I do."

"Don't."

Joei stared up at him and laughed, "We're sappy and disgusting, aren't we?"

"Big time."

* * *

 **Please remember to drop me some reviews, comments, ratings, whatever your heart desires.**


End file.
